


A Chronicle of Gold

by Ace_Of_Clubs



Series: The Chronicles of Falls [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dipper and Pacifica are bros, Kidnapping, M/M, Magical!Dipper, Medieval-ish, Older!Dipper Pines - Freeform, Older!Mabel Pines, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Politics, Racism, Slavery, War, all the Pines are magicians, human!bill cipher, it may get dark at some points, more tags in the chapters notes, princess!Pacifica
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-05-26 03:20:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6221587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ace_Of_Clubs/pseuds/Ace_Of_Clubs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Kingdom of Falls has been living in peace and prosperity for almost two centuries, avoiding any major conflict against Demons and the humans serving them, who inhabit the territory right beyond the Borders. </p><p>But things are about to change, and when a new player enters the game, seemingly assembling an army, a war may be inevitable.</p><p>When Dipper Pines and the princess he was supposed to protect, Pacifica Northwest, are kidnapped, they find themselves involved in a plot bigger than they could have imagined, and in order to survive and save the Kingdom, Dipper will have to realize that the line between good and evil is not as clear as he thought it was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *sweats nervously*  
> Hello everyone!  
> This fic is a bit of a challenge to myself, since I've always loved plotting stories, but never actually sat down and started writing one. Well, I tried before, but it didn't end well. But I really wanted to share this with you, since I have really big plans for this story, and I want to force myself to go through with it. I promised myself that I was going to wait until I had at least the first couple of chapters written, but I'm afraid that if I wait too long I may chicken out, so I'll post it and hope that it will make me feel obligated to continue.
> 
> Before you read, some warnings: english is not my mother language, and I don't have a beta reader yet, so there may be mistakes, even if I read this many times before posting. If you see any mistake, please let me know so I can edit them, and if everyone is interested and willing to be my beta, tell me in the comments below!
> 
> So, that's it, I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think, feedback will help me go through my huge self-esteem issues and doubts.

Dipper threw himself on the ground barely a second before the energy sphere directed his way could hit him, gritting his teeth as he landed painfully on his elbows. 

He didn’t turn around to watch the bright globe landing behind him, eyes fixed on his enemy, but he heard it collide and explode against something, most probably a tree. 

They had been fighting unceasingly for almost twenty minutes, and the young mage was tired, in pain, and obviously losing. 

As much as he didn’t like to admit it, his adversary was stronger than him, faster, and definitely more enthusiastic. He heard them laugh gleefully, and he had to roll on his side to avoid another sphere, that landed right where he had been just an instant before.

Ignoring the protests of his sore body, Dipper pushed himself on his feet again, studying the mage standing thirty feet from him. He conjured a sphere of his own, throwing it in their direction before they had time to recover, but they dodged it effortlessly with a snort of derision. 

He couldn’t keep going like this, his attacks were getting weaker and weaker as he grew more exhausted, and he knew he didn’t stand a chance that way. If he wanted to win he needed to change tactic, but up to that moment the fight had been so fast that it didn’t leave him time to think and came out with a better plan. 

“You can’t beat me, Dipper. Just surrender, and maybe I will show you mercy.”

The boy rolled his eyes at the pretentious words, but he didn’t miss how their voice sounded slightly breathless. At least he wasn’t the only one feeling worn out.

If he could only managed to gain a little time, he knew that he could beat her. What he lacked in strength, he made up in focus and knowledge, he just needed to figure out a way to turn the situation to his advantage. 

His adversary’s weaknesses were her pride and zeal, so maybe he could use that to distract her and trick her into making a mistake, but he had to act fast, before she could start attacking him again.

“Fat chance,” he yelled back, forcing himself to smile confidently. “Is this all you got? That last blast was pretty lame, I bet that even if you managed to hit me, it would leave barely a scratch.”

The girl widened her eyes at the affront, and her hands began to glow as she summoned another energy sphere, bigger than the last ones had been. 

Just what he had hoped for. 

Trying to slow the definitely faster-than-healthy beats of his heart, Dipper recited in his mind the spell he intended to use, waiting for just the right moment to strike. His adversary was stalling, probably trying to take him by surprise, but now that he had a plan, he felt more ready than ever.

The blast was sudden and huge, but he reacted in time. It was still several feet from him when he yelled _“Speculo!”_ , and a force field appeared between him and the globe, reflecting it back to the source. 

He trembled feeling the energy required by the spell leaving him, but smiled victoriously at the result. The other mage yelped in surprise, and she wasn’t fast enough to dodge her own magic completely. 

It hit her on the shoulder, pushing her several feet backwards, falling on her back. 

The girl tried to stand again, but Dipper saw her struggling, limbs trembling with fatigue. Just as he predicted, she had used too much energy for her last attack, and now she wasn’t able to recover quickly enough. 

The boy began to summon an energy ball of his own, ready to strike her and end the fight, when a sharp cry made him freeze.

His adversary was holding her shoulder, eyes shut in a pained grimace, and had completely given up trying to stand up again. 

All the triumph he had been feeling faded immediately, as he run to kneel at her side.

“Mabel? Mabel are you alright? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

He stopped his ramblings as the suffering expression on his twin’s face morphed into a mischievous grin, and too late Dipper realized that he had been tricked. 

The sphere hit him right in the stomach, flinging him backwards and beyond the circle of stones that delimited the training ring, determining his defeat. 

He landed on soft grass, but not soft enough to stop the air from being violently knocked out of his lungs. He curled on his side, shaking with coughs, wondering if that was the time his sister finally managed to break some of his bones.

As soon as he stopped feeling like moving may cause him to throw up, Dipper lifted his head, glaring at the girl that was jumping cheerfully in the middle of the ring, chanting “Alpha Twin! Alpha Twin!”

The boy moved tentatively his arms and legs, making sure he was still in one piece, before slowly trying to get up, barely containing a grunt of pain.

“You cheated!” He protested, reaching his sister and hitting her pathetically on the shoulder with a fist, not knowing how else to express his indignation.

“It’s not my fault you are a softy, little bro! You just can’t compete with my superior fighting skills!” Mabel laughed, taking a step back and putting her fists on her hips in what was –in her opinion- a heroic pose.

“Grunkle Stan,” the boy whined, turning to look at their teacher, who had been watching the fight from a nearby bench. 

The old man stood up, approaching and exhibiting a pleased grin. “Sorry kid, but your sister is right. When you fight against an enemy, there are no rules! Using their weaknesses against them, that’s my girl!” 

He patted his niece on the shoulder, and Dipper withhold from rolling his eyes again. Of course, the older mage would always encourage them to play dirty, it didn’t matter that he had been seriously worried about his sister getting hurt. 

He was a misunderstood gentleman.

“However,” their uncle continued, raising a finger in a warning manner “you can’t rely on energy spheres and tricks alone. Not all the mages you will encounter will be as shaky and malleable as your brother, and-“

“I’m standing right here!”

“- _and_ , you didn’t use any spell at all during the fight.”

The girl groaned, and now it was her turn to whine. “But Grunkle Stan, spells are boring! Using energy is faster, and also a lot more fun!”

Stanley laughed, ruffling her hair lovingly. “I know, sweetie. But spells offer more options when it comes to both attacking and defending yourself. They are essential, if you ever hope to win a fight against a stronger mage, or a demon.” 

He turned his head to Dipper, smiling at him and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Your brother here, he’s a natural with spells, just like my brother. What you did there, with the mirror charm, was very smart. And it would have worked, if you hadn’t let yourself be distracted. Anyways, you tend to think a little too much during the battle. You need to trust more in yourself, be more violent when you attack. Your sister can take it, don’t hold back! You both need to practice as much as you can now, you never know when you may have to fight for your life.”

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other, both of them sensing how their great uncle had suddenly turned serious. 

The young twins had been hearing those kind of warnings since they started training, when they were little more than children, but after they turned eighteen their mentors became particularly insistent with their lessons. They had informed their students that they meant to bring them along on patrol missions in the near future, and so the young mages had really started to prepare for what they may meet beyond the kingdom’s borders.

Dipper didn’t know how he felt at the prospect of being face to face with a demon. He knew that they were deadly, vicious creatures, but he had been hearing about them for all his life, and he’d been training to fight them for years. His great uncles always tried to avoid confrontations, but sometimes they were inevitable, and part of him really wanted to prove himself in a duel against one of those monsters. 

At the same time, though, he knew it wasn’t a challenge to be taken lightly, and even his uncles, two of the few people powerful enough to travel and return unharmed from their territory, had seriously risked their life more than once. 

“We will train harder, we promise,” he reassured his teacher, and he saw his sister nodding seriously beside him. 

“Good,” the old man said, looking at them both before pathing them on the shoulder and letting a smile on his face again. “Now, let’s go back inside. I’m starting to feel hungry, and I bet you two are starving after all of that fighting, am I right?”

He was. _God_ , he was.

Magic practice always left him exhausted, especially when it involved energy spheres, that drained the power right from their body’s reserves. 

Spells worked a little differently, since they required a combination of mental and physical energy, and their effectiveness depended from the experience and the natural potential of the mage. It was part of the reason why Dipper favoured charms so much, not to mention the fact that they were definitely more interesting.

Mabel, who was less enthusiastic about studying spells, but was gifted with an apparently endless vitality, didn’t agree with him. She had learned how to summon energy spheres a lot faster than he did, and the boy had never managed to catch up to her ability. Maybe if he started stealing pastries from the royal kitchen as she did… He suspected that sugar may have something to do with all the energy she had.

However, he was pleased to see that she looked just as tired and hungry as he felt.

Luckily, the clearing their great uncle had transformed into a training camp was not far from their house. He could already see the top of the castle’s towers pop up between the trees, and in just a few minutes they were in sight of the small cottage they called home.

One may have thought that being the official magicians of the Royal Court came with many privileges, amongst which the one of a bigger house, but the Northwests weren’t exactly known for their generosity.

Dipper didn’t mind so much, it was still bigger than his childhood’s home had been, and it was situated right at the edge of the Royal Park. It was quite and private, but only a few hundred meters from the very heart of the kingdom.

And to be honest, the boy would have gladly lived in a cave if it meant that he could keep training with his great uncles. 

The two old men had been working for the Crown for more than three decades. Stanford Pines had caught the attention of the royals with his incredible skills in magic and alchemy, and, most importantly, for his knowledge on demons. And when the Northwests found out he was part of a bloodline of magicians, they pretty much forcefully recruited the entire family.

The gift had skipped Dipper and Mabel’s parent’s generation, but the two twins had showed signs of magical abilities since a very young age and so, when they turned thirteen, they moved into Gravity Falls, the Kingdom’s capital, to start their training to become the future Court’s magicians. 

Almost six years had passed, and the two kids had grown into quite powerful young mages. No luxury or comfort could compete with the power and knowledge they had acquired. 

 

Dipper was already dreaming of a warm meal and his soft bed to rest on before the afternoon lessons, but he hadn’t expect to find someone waiting for them outside the house. Hani, his great uncle’s slave, was standing by the door, and greeted them with a small bow as they approached.

“Master Stan,” he said respectfully, before raising his head again “I’ve come to inform you that your brother has returned from his journey.”

Dipper smiled, feeling a thrill of excitement travel down his spine. Their Grunkle Ford had left almost a month before for an expedition in the Nomads territory, beyond the kingdom’s norther border. He went on similar missions two or three times every year, and every time he came back with incredible tales of adventure, and sometimes with amazing artifacts he had found or won in a magic duel. 

“Well, took him long enough!” Stanley replied, and he wasn’t that wrong. It wasn’t usual for the man’s twin’s journeys to be that long. “Will he be joining us for supper, or has he already locked himself in his lab?”

The brown-skinned servant shook his head slightly. “Neither, sir. He called a meeting with the Council, your presence is also required. It will be starting shortly.”

And there went the prospect of eating any time soon.

Grunkle Stan sighed, but if it was because he disliked official meetings, or because the fact that one had been called could only mean bad news, the boy wasn’t sure. “Alright. Kids, go change into something less sweaty, we have to go.” 

“I have already prepared a basin of water and clean clothes in your room,” the slave informed them, bowing his head as they passed by him.

“Thank you, Hani!” Mabel told him with a big, sincere smile. Dipper simply nodded with gratitude, smiling at him with some embarrassment before following his sister inside. 

He had always been a little awkward in the presence of the slave, not knowing exactly how to behave. The man couldn’t be more than ten years older than him, but something about the way he behaved, and the look in his eyes, made him look much older, so the boy was torn between an instinctive sense of deference and the awareness of belonging to a much higher social status. 

Technically, Hani was only his great uncle Ford’s slave, since he had been assigned to him to assist him in his laboratory, but it wasn’t unusual for him to work for the whole family whenever Stanford was away, or didn’t need his help. Still, Dipper never actually found the courage to order him to do anything.

Slavery had been in force in the kingdom for over one hundred and fifty years, since King Nathaniel Northwest had started a war against the Nomad Tribes to get rid of the threat of demons. The Nomads venerated the creatures like deities, offering them sacrifices and servitude, and allowing them to possess their bodies and walk on earth disguised as humans. Almost every tribe had a demon as a patron, living amongst them and acting as their leader.

The conflict had only lasted a few years, and none of the parties had come out of it as the winner, but since then the relations between the two countries had been hostile and violent. King Nathaniel had declared that all nomads found approaching the kingdom’s borders where to be either killed or enslaved, to prevent possible attacks and the spread of their religion.

Dipper abhorred demons and those practice, of course, but still he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of owning another human being. Especially one like Hani, that he just couldn’t picture performing sacrifices and demonic rituals.

He knew that Mabel felt the same way, and she had resolved to always address the nomad with the same kindness and warmth she reserved to all the free people in the country. Probably even a little more than that.

 

The twins shared a room at the second floor, and when they entered they found a basin full of water and clean clothes ready on their bed, just like they’ve been told, plus a couple of towels. 

Dipper went sit on his bed, facing the window, giving his sister privacy as she washed first. 

A part of him just wished he could lay down and sleep, but he was also really excited –and a little worried- about what his great uncle had found out during his mission.

“Why do you think Ford called a meeting?” he asked Mabel, as his mind keep running from a possible answer to another.

“ ‘don’t know,” she muttered behind him “it’s probably either something really good, or something really bad. Grunkle Ford hates Council meetings, he wouldn’t have called one if he wasn’t important. I’m done, your turn.”

He washed and dressed quickly, not wanting to make Stan wait too long, since he was probably already cranky as it was. None of them was really fond of the meetings, usually they were just long and boring, and most the lords –not to mention the king and queen- were incredibly snob and insufferable. 

He was almost done buttoning his shirt when he heard Mabel groaning loudly from her side of the room. He turned around to see the girl standing in front of the mirror, looking distressed as she touched her hair.

“Look at this! They’re all sweaty! I can’t go to the court like this, what if some cute lord is there and I look like a dirty farmer?”

Dipper rolled his eyes, going back to working on his shirt. “Mabel, you already know the councilors. They’re all wrinkly, old men. Also, your hair is fine.”

She ignored him, still looking at her reflection with disgust on her face, literally _growling_ with closed mouth. Finally, after a few moments, she simply raised her hand and murmured _“Tergeo”_ , and suddenly all the dirt lifted from her hair to vanish, leaving it clean and soft.

The boy snorted. “I thought that spells were _‘boring’_ ,” he mocked her, suppressing a smile.

“Nothing related to cleanliness can be boring, brother dear! And now let’s go, the Palace is waiting!”

 ***

The Council Room was small compared to many other spaces in the castle, like the dance hall and the Throne Room, yet it was still several times bigger than the entire house the Pines were living in.

Dipper still remembered the first time he had seen the palace, how he had been left completely astounded by the beauty and immensity of it. He also recalled wondering if such exaggerating luxury was really necessary. It hadn’t took long for him to realize that everything concerning the Northwests revolved around appearances and ostentation of power. 

In the middle of the room there was a large table, around which sat the members of the Council, consisting of twenty –almost exclusively wrinkly and old- men, including their two great uncles. Dipper and Mabel were allowed to assist, but not to intervene, and they were standing quietly by the wall. 

They weren’t the only guests at the meeting; there were a handful of young lords and ladies, relatives of other Council members there to attend and learn from the experience, like the twins where, and half a dozen of slaves.

The royal family was sitting on sober thrones –sober only if compared to the ones in the Throne Room- facing the table, their sits elevated of a few feet from the ground to stand above the attendands. 

Preston Northwest was watching carefully, with a dignified but slightly pleased expression, as one by one the councilors recited their pledge of loyalty to the Kingdom and to the King, as it was tradition at the beginning of every meeting. 

He was wearing his crown, and Dipper couldn’t actually remember a single time he had seen him without it. Mabel used to joke about it being permanently glued to his head. Everything about him conveyed power and seriousness, and the boy had always thought him being slightly intimidating.

At his right side his wife, Queen Priscilla, was the image of pretense. Dressed and adorned as she was attending a party, she exhibited a large, fake smile, but her eyes were cold and empty, and she was sitting so still that it was hard to believe she was actually breathing. 

On the left of the king, lastly, sat Pacifica, his only daughter and heir. Her expression was neutral, but her eyes betrayed how bored she really was. 

Dipper could relate to that. It was insufferable to have to listen to the pledge of loyalty every single time, especially when his great uncle had just come back from the North with obviously pressing news.

Still, he did his best to conceal his irritation, and to suppress a sigh of relief when _finally_ all the councilors had told their vows, and Stanford was allowed to stand up and start the actual meeting.

“Your Majesty, my Queen, colleagues of the Council,” he began, and Dipper noticed how he too was fighting against impatience, not to mention an obvious amount of exhaustion. “I return from my expedition in the Nomads’ territory with worrisome news. Several tribes have been merging in the same camp, not far from Devil’s Peak. There seems to be about two thousands men, for now, but signs indicate that they are waiting for more tribes to join them soon.”

The atmosphere in the room immediately became tense, and the few moments of silence that followed the words were soon replaced by alarmed whispers and hushed exclamations. 

Dipper’s eyes widened, and he could almost feel the color drain from his face. Next to him, Mabel cursed softly.

He had known that something serious must have happened in the North for his great uncle to be this preoccupied, but he had imagined something like a new demon causing troubles, or a single tribe moving too close to the borders. All things that had happened before, since Dipper and Mabel had arrived to the capital. Things they had seen their uncles and the Council deal with successfully.

But this… This was new.

Nomads shared the same culture, language and beliefs, but politically the Tribes were independent from each other, the only contacts between them being for trading food or other goods. Even the biggest communities weren’t larger than a few hundred men. 

Last time all Tribes had merged, a war had happened.

“Are they planning an attack?” a member of the Council asked Ford, voicing the question all the presents had been thinking. 

“I cannot say that for sure,” the old mage answered cautiously, eyeing all the men at the table before fixing his stare on the king. “It could be a religious festivity, since Devil’s Peak is a sacred place to the Nomads, but in all the years I’ve been traveling through their territory, I’ve never seen anything like this.” 

The king leaned slightly forward, joining his hands on his lap, and his expression turned somehow harsher. He didn’t look scared, though, nor particularly shocked. But Dipper guessed he’d never been the most expressive man. 

“Let’s speculate that they _were_ planning to attack my kingdom,” Preston spoke slowly, eyes not moving from Stanford “what would be the best way to protect ourselves?”

The magician had opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, another counselor spoke first. “We should attack them now, when they don’t expect us to!” The man, Lord Biker, looked at his colleagues one by one, a solemn expression on his face. “Let’s take the army, all our magicians, and crush them before they even get the chance to threaten us.”

Some of the men at the table nodded in approval, and the king moved his eyes on the Council Man, looking at him with obvious interest. 

_Are we really discussing going to war?_ It was happening so fast that Dipper felt more than a little disoriented. 

Biker had been pushing the Council to start a conflict with the Nomads for as long as he could remember –the man had some serious issues with violence-, but this was the first time his suggestion hadn’t been immediately rejected.

He knew that the situation was serious, but he didn’t think that an open war would be the best solution. Not until they knew more about that was really happening, anyways. 

There was a reason why both parts had been avoiding serious confrontations for over a century and a half, after all, and people still narrated the horrors and destruction that had happened during the latest conflict. Turning his head to look at his sister, the boy found his same worry reflected in her eyes.

Luckily, not all the men at the table seemed to agree with Biker.

“Now, now, let’s wait a minute,” Lord Valentino said, looking as alarmed and taken aback as Dipper felt “we’re only talking about a few thousands nomads, not even half of their Tribes. They wouldn’t dare to attack us with such little numbers, with or without demons in their forces. Risking a war to defend ourselves from a threat we don’t even know it’s there, looks like an unnecessary risk to me.”

Stanford, who was still standing and waiting for the chance to intervene, tried to say something, but for the second time he was interrupted by Lord Biker.

“That’s why we need to attack now,” he stood up, either unaware or uncaring of the glare the mage was sending his way, “ _before_ they assemble enough men to become dangerous. And even if it is just one of those weird, demonic rituals of theirs, I say we have tolerated their perverse religion long enough. It’s time to take their territory, eliminate the threat, and spread some civilization into that land!” He banged his fist on the table, a gesture that would have been surely more intimidating coming from a less frail-looking man.

“Yeah, spreading civilization, I am _sure_ there is no hidden agenda behind that at all.” Stanley mumbled, but loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear. Biker’s face grew red with anger, and Ford took advantage of his affronted shock to finally take back the reins of the discussion, and avoid an argument the other two men had had way too many times before.

“Your Majesty, I don’t think it would be wise to declare war openly just yet. As Lord Valentino pointed out, the Nomads wouldn’t dare to attack us without at least some chances of succeeding in a war. So either they don’t have villainous intents, or they are planning something bigger. In both cases, it’s too risky to attack them before we gather more information.”

Next to Dipper and Mabel, Lord Valentino’s son, Robbie, leaned to his friend to whisper in his ear “Right, as if the nomads were smart enough to trick us,” and the young mage had to suppress the impulse to shush him. 

If any of the slaves standing near them heard his comment, they didn’t react to it.

“And what happens if we wait too long, magician?” The king inquired, obviously not too happy with the man’s response. “If they really are plotting something, why should I wait for them to make the first move, risking the safety of my kingdom?”

“Because it’s not the Nomads alone that worries me, but the demons who are with them,” Stanford answered, and despite his efforts to remain calm, his nephew could hear a hint of anger at the mention of the creatures. “Demons are vicious, powerful, and incredibly intelligent beings. And yes, they are also bloodthirsty and fickle, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be patient.”

His voice was deep and solemn now, and even as he took a pause to look with gravity at the men at the table, this time nobody dared to interrupt. “Demons are immortal, time means little to them. They can spend decades, even centuries waiting for the right moment to achieve what they want. The only reason why they haven’t destroyed us before is that they don’t seem to be interested in working with each other, nor to expand their territory. But things can change, and we _need_ to be careful. We cannot afford to fall in one of their traps.”

Dipper found himself nodding at his Grunkle’s words. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that it was weird that the nomads would decide to assemble an army in a place where they were easy to be spotted by the kingdom’s sentinels. The fact that they weren’t even trying to hide was definitely suspicious.

The prospect of facing an unknown threat was almost more frightening than the one of fighting a war. He knew that the reason why men like his great uncles had survived traveling into the enemy’s territory wasn’t much that they were powerful, but that they were prepared and knew not to underestimate their adversaries. 

Dipper hoped that the counselors would be convinced by his uncle’s words, and looking at them he was pleased to realize that many seemed to be affected by his speech. 

Stanford didn’t waste time congratulating himself though, and he kept talking, addressing the king directly again, “I’m not saying we should do nothing and just wait and see what happens. On the contrary, we should increase our vigilance more than ever, and be ready to call to arms if it turns out to be necessary. I would also suggest to contact the Coven, inform them of what’s happening, prepare ourselves to recruit all the magicians we can find in case of a direct conflict.”

The king didn’t reply immediately. He leaned back on his throne, his face an unreadable mask, and Dipper found the long seconds that followed to be terribly unnerving. 

Finally, he spoke, directing his words to all the men of the Council. 

“Does anyone here object to these suggestions?”

 

The rest of the meeting was brief. There were a few other interventions, Ford was asked some more questions about his mission, and Biker tried one last time to convince everyone that attacking first was the safest option, but at the end, the majority of the counsellors agreed with Ford’s line of action.

Preston nodded in acknowledgment at the Council’s decision. He didn’t look too enthusiastic, but he didn’t oppose either. Not that he could if he wanted to, even the King couldn’t declare war without the approval of the Council.

As they finally exited the room, waiting for their uncles to join them, Dipper couldn’t help but feel relieved, even if he knew that the threat was still out there, and war was still an eventuality. 

He was well aware that a conflict against demons couldn’t be won without magic, and that would mean that he, his great uncles, and his sister would all be in the front line, risking their life. Facing a single demon was one thing, but he didn’t think that any amount of training could prepare him for that.

For now, he only wanted to talk to Grunkle Ford. He was confident that if they both put their mind into it, they could come out with a solution for this situation. 

“We don’t know if this isn’t a false alarm yet.”

Dipper turned to look at Mabel, who apparently had guessed his train of thoughts and was looking at him with an encouraging smile. He knew that deep down, his sister was as concerned as he was –well, probably not as much concerned-, but she always tried to stay positive, keeping everyone in a good mood, and the boy was grateful for it. It made up for the fact that he tended to be _a little_ pessimistic and overreacting. 

He nodded and smiled back, but before he could say anything, he sighted their great uncles coming out of the Council Room, exchanging words with another counselor. 

Stanford spotted the twins and smiled warmly. He excused himself from the Lord to approach them, and he was immediately greeted with a double-hug. 

“We missed you Grunkle Ford!” Mabel said as she hold the old man, who laughed kindly hugging them back.

“I missed you too, kids. I am sorry I’ve been away this long but… well, as you can imagine, things got rather complicated during my journey.”

They untied from the hug and took a step back, and Dipper could see on his uncle’s face just how preoccupied and exhausted he was. Traveling for weeks in the Nomads’ territory was already an extreme experience by itself, Dipper could only imagine how difficult and dangerous spying on a camp of those dimensions must have been.

Against all of his instincts, that pressed him to voice all the questions and thoughts that were buzzing in his head, he decided to wait. The older man really needed to rest, and he had already been questioned enough by the Council.

They all waited for Grunkle Stan to finish his conversation. It looked more like an argument, actually, and when the man finally joined them, he was muttering angrily to himself. Council Meetings always made him grumpy, but right now he was even grumpier than usual.

“Those idiots are not going to stop until they get their freaking war! We have to be careful, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to bribe or manipulate the other counsellors. God knows we are not risking enough already as it is.”

Ford sighed, bringing a six-fingered hand to his face to rub his eyes. “I know, ‘Lee, and we’ll deal with it. But we can’t blame them for being scared, it’s not our people who seems to be assembling an army.”

Stanley snorted with skepticism, rolling his eyes, “’Scared’ my ass. Biker and his crew had had their eyes on the gold mines behind the borders since forever. I’ve been telling you for years, they have been waiting for nothing but an excuse, and now those bloody tribes had given them one. But I’ll be damned if I put my life on the line so that some Lord can fill his pockets, so you’d better came out with some clever, diplomatic alternative.”

Once again, Stan didn’t bother to keep his voice down, and Dipper noticed how they were starting to attract very unkind glances. 

Grunkle Ford must have noticed too, or he was simply too tired to retort to his twin, because he sighed again, sounding defeated, “Listen, Stanley, this is not the time nor the place to-“ he stopped suddenly, his eyes leaving his brother to fix on something behind his back. His back straightened as he greeted respectfully, “Your Highness.”

Dipper and Mabel both tensed and turned around, but the boy was surprised –and relieved- to find not Preston, but Pacifica Northwest standing in front of them.

“Magician,” she responded formally, nodding briefly at the two Council Members before fixing her eyes on Dipper. “Tomorrow I am to attend a public ceremony in the Town Square. I require your presence in my guard, as a protection measure.”

Dipper was taken aback for a moment. 

Since he and Mabel had turned sixteen, they had been assigned to escort the Princess on travels and diplomatic missions, to use their powers to assure her security. But that was usually only necessary for journeys outside the capital, or sometimes during important ceremonies, when the Royals wanted to impress their guests by flaunting the mages at their services.

Gravity Falls was surrounded by a magical barrier, erected by their uncles many years before, that prevented anyone with magic abilities to enter the capital without permission, and if a demon even just got close to the city, the two Pines would immediately sense it. 

Dipper was sure that his presence wasn’t really needed for a simple visit to the Town Square, since the royal guards were more than capable to protect the Princess from any non-magical threat. That could only mean that there was some other reason why Pacifica wanted him with her the next day. 

He couldn’t ask her what it was at the moment, obviously, not with his Grunkles right there and many other people within earshot. So he bowed, respectfully, and simply answered “Of course, Your Highness.”

“Good,” she said, her neutral expression not betraying any of her intentions, “I’ll send some servants to get you at your house tomorrow morning. Counsellors,” she nodded once again to the older magicians before leaving without another word, her eyes lingering on Mabel for just a moment as she walked away.

Dipper turned around, meeting with his great uncles curious and confused stares.

“I guess that this situation had made everyone a little paranoid. Better safe than sorry,” Stanford said with a shrug, his eyes following the Princess until she disappeared behind a corner.

“Sure,” Stanley commented, dragging the ‘u’ for longer than necessary, “that must be it, right Dipper?”

His smile was between skeptical and amused, with an _I-know-what’s-really-going-on_ expression on his face, and Dipper tensed. God knew he didn’t want to have _that_ conversation again. 

Fortunately, Mabel immediately came to his rescue. 

“Not that this isn’t a nice place to chat, but I remind you that we haven’t had lunch yet, and I don’t know you guys, but I am literally starving. Can we go?”

And now that she mentioned it, yes, Dipper was starving too. Incredible how easily he could ignore his body’s needs whenever he had his mind caught into something.

He decided to push everything that was troubling him in the back of his mind, from the danger beyond the borders to this whatever it was with Pacifica. He was going to eat, rest, and enjoy the rest of the day now that Grunkle Ford was back.

He could deal with everything tomorrow. It wasn’t like the situation was going to change overnight, anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've made a tumblr account if anyone wants to ask me questions or follow the updates. You find me at [chronicles-of-falls.tumblr.com](http://chronicles-of-falls.tumblr.com/)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _It wasn’t like the situation was going to change overnight, anyways._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god guys... Thanks so so so much to everyone who commented, bookmarked, left a kudos or shared this on tumblr! I didn't expect so much attention after 1 chapter, you guys are awesome and I love every single one of you! You made me cry.  
> You have no idea how much you motivated me to write, so really, thank yo so much!
> 
> Hope I will not disappoint, here have Chapter 2!

He appeared at the edge of the clearing shortly after midnight, only a brief flash of blue light announcing his sudden arrival. 

The woods were dark and silent around him, with the exception of the young man waiting for him at the center of the clearing, fidgeting impatiently on the spot. His right hand was holding a torch, the only source of light in the clouded night, while the other was tight around the reins of his horse. 

The kid tensed slightly after spotting him, but he raised his head in the attempt of projecting confidence and authority. “You’re late,” he said with his annoying, squeaky voice, and he seriously had to contain himself from laughing at his face. It was hilarious, how such a short man thought he could be intimidating.

“My apologies, _my Lord_ ,” he answered instead, a hint of mock in his voice that the kid either didn’t notice, or didn’t dare confronting him about. “What did you wish to speak to me about?”

He was more than a little irritated about that sudden summoning. He already had his hands full with the Tribes, who weren’t so happy about having to work with each other, not to mention that he had to keep an eye on the Demons to prevent them from tearing each other apart. 

He had told the young lord to contact him for emergencies only, so for his sake, this had better be important.

“I received news from the capitol,” the kid started, as he took a letter out of the front pocket of his coat. “Everything is ready. Within the next few days, the Palace will receive news from their sentinel, if they didn’t already. We can proceed with the plan.”

**Finally!**

_Finally_ , he cheered in his head, all his irritation suddenly forgotten.

He had spent the last ten years working on this, pulling strings from behind the curtains, and now it was finally time to enter the scenes and play the final act. 

“When?” he asked, not bothering to repress an excited smile. It was always fun to see the young man looking uncomfortable at the sight of his slightly pointed teeth.

“Tomorrow. The princess will be in town for some ceremony in the morning, outside the safety of the castle. She will have guards with her, but that shouldn’t be a big challenge for you, am I wrong?”

He grinned. It wouldn’t be a challenge at all.

It didn’t matter how cautious they were, even if they’d already heard about what was happening beyond their borders, nobody was going to see this coming. Everyone felt safe inside Gravity Falls, they all thought they were untouchable. 

It was time to teach the citizens of Falls that nobody was safe from them.

“I’ll let you know as soon as it’s done,” he said. He needed to leave immediately, to check on the camp and make sure everything was set before heading to the capital. He was already ready to teleport, when a pale hand sprang forward and held him back by the forearm.

“Wait!”

Their eyes locked for just a moment, but it was enough for the kid to realize his mistake, because he immediately took his hand back, clenching it around the reins of his horse again. 

“Wait,” he repeated, this time calmer, but sounding annoyingly condescending. “Everything needs to go perfectly tomorrow. Failing this attempt would make succeeding in the future incredibly harder. But most importantly, nobody must know who really is behind this. I know you’re going to make a scene, but remember to keep your mouth shut. Don’t disappoint me.”

**The little pig seems to have a death wish tonight…**

He felt a wave of rage at the superiority and contempt that reeked from the lord’s voice, and if he hadn’t been so essential to the plan, he would have gutted the man on the spot.

Instead, he smiled.

“No need for concern, my Lord. I’ll handle the situation with discretion. You should rather worry about doing your part, and make sure that your friends lower the barrier around the city when it’s time. We can’t afford to lose our surprise effect and make myself known too soon. Trust me, you don’t want to be disappointing _me_.”

He made his eyes flash red at the last word, and was pleased to see the shorter man taking a step back in alarm.

“It-“ the kid’s voice came out even higher than usual, and he swallowed, trying to regain control on his throat. “The barrier will be down, I can assure you.”

**Good to know he’s still afraid of us.**

He grinned at the voice in his head. _He’s not a complete idiot after all_.

“Good!” is what he said out loud, managing to sound threatening despite his cheerful tone. “As I was saying, I’ll let you know as soon as I have her. The next few weeks are going to be messy, the whole world is gonna come out changed. We play our cards right, and we’ll both be on top of it.”

And he wasn’t exaggerating. In less than twenty-four hours, chaos would start spreading through all the lands, and he planned to enjoy every second of it. 

Without another word, he turned around and vanished in the night.

 

***

 

“What about this one?”

Dipper looked at the shirt Mabel was holding in front of him. It was made of silk, white with green embroideries around the collar, one of the ‘good shirts’ he kept for parties and official affairs.

“It’s good,” he said, just like he did for the previous four shirts his twin had showed him. He tried to grab it before she could change her mind, again, but she was faster, moving it out of his reach and thinking about it for a few more seconds before discarding it with a grunt. _Again_.

The boy let himself fall backwards on the bed with a groan. They’ve been doing this for the last ten minutes, and his patience had run out approximately nine minutes and a thirty seconds before. 

“You don’t need to dress me, Mabel. It’s not like I’m going to a party or something, just pick a shirt and be done with it!”

“It’s still an official ceremony,” she retorted, still looking at the clothes that hung in the wardrobe. “You will have to appear next to the princess, and Pacifica will have a stroke if you show up looking like a scruffy peasant.”

The ceremony in question had turned out to be in honor of the Gravity Falls Guard’s Captain, who that day celebrated forty years of service. It was a big deal for the town’s people, but not important enough for the King and Queen to show up themselves. Nobody was really surprised, the princess had been attending minor events by herself since she turned twelve. 

The Pines were used to attending parties and ceremonies at the Palace, but they were never asked to take part in public festivities, so Dipper had no experiences with what the dress code was for the occasion.

Neither did Mabel, technically, but that wasn’t stopping her from acting like she was an expert. 

“She will also have a stroke if I show up late. Come on, Mabes, her servants are already downstairs waiting. Nobody will be looking at me anyways, just pick one!”

The girl sighed dramatically, but picked up a blue shirt from the wardrobe and handed it to him. “ _Fine_ , but just because we don’t have time, not because you are right or something.” She turned around as he changed, looking for something in one of her drawers. 

Dipper really wished he didn’t have to go. 

When they had come back from the meeting the day before, Stanford had said only a couple of words about his journey before retiring to bed, and he was still asleep that morning when Pacifica’s servants arrived. Now, he was going to have to wait for this ceremony to end before they could speak about the situation with the Nomads.

At the same time, though, he was also worried about Pacifica.

“Did she looked upset to you yesterday?” he asked Mabel, knowing he didn’t need to specify who he was talking about.

“I don’t think so,” she answered, moving from the drawer to a small chest she had at the foot of her bed. “That didn’t mean that she wasn’t, though. If there is someone who mastered the art of concealing their emotions behind an everlasting mask of indifference, that’s Pacifica Northwest.”.

“Woah, that was… very poetic,” he grinned, finishing to button up the shirt and turning around to look at her. “Did you rehearse it or something?”

“Oh _shut up_. I don’t- Found it!”

She throw whatever she was looking for at him and, took by surprise, he only barely managed to catch it.

“Ehm, Mabel? Why are you giving me a necklace?”

It was a thin, silver chain, maybe ten inches long, from which hung a pendant in the shape of a pine tree.

“It’s not a necklace, stupid, it’s a medallion. It’s classy, it matches well with the shirt, and it reminds of our family name. It won’t damage your manliness, so stop complaining and put it on.”

Dipper sighed but did as he was told, and looking himself in the mirror he had to admit that it did fit well with his look. 

“Fine, I’ll wear it. Can I go now? A medallion will be pretty useless if the princess has my head cut off for making her wait.”

Mabel grunted, making him turn around to have a better look at him, fixed his hair a little with her hands, and finally declared, “You’re passable.”

He stuck his tongue out to her, and she answered by shoving him, to which he answered by shoving her harder, and that was a mistake, because the glare she gave him after was terrifying. She then proceeded to poke him in the ribs until he was a laughing mess and had to flee the room, with his sister chasing him down the stairs, grinning like a maniac.

 

***

 

The first time Dipper had met Pacifica Northwest, he had thought she was the meanest, most snobbish and superficial person in the whole universe. 

He and Mabel had been thirteen at the time, just arrived to the capital to start training with their great uncles, and they had been brought to the Palace to be officially introduced to the Royal Family as the future Court Magicians. 

After a short meeting –where Preston had managed to be both boring and intimidating-, they had been about to leave, when Mabel had stayed behind to approach the princess on her way out of the Throne Room. Pacifica was only one year older than they were, and his twin, friendly and enthusiastic as her usual, had thought it would have been nice to try and befriend her.

The princess, though, had treated her with disregard and contempt, making immediately clear that she believed to be way too important to waste her breath on someone like Mabel and her ‘kind’.

His sister had felt hurt and humiliated at the moment, but she had been quick to forget and move on, not holding any grudge against Pacifica and still trying her best to be nice in her presence. Dipper, however, was far less forgiving than that, and he had hated the young Northwest intensely for a very long time for the way she had treated Mabel, and for how she behaved with people in general.

‘A very long time’ meant approximately one year and a half. 

In the winter of their second year in Gravity Falls, the twins had faced their first mortal threat when, during a Royal Ball, a ghost had tried to burn the castle to the ground, and everyone inside with it.

It had been a terrifying experience, that involved a powerful curse, people turning into trees, and an old grudge against the Northwest family that went back to King Nathaniel’s times.

One good thing had come out of it though, and it was that Dipper had learned that there was more about Pacifica than he had previously thought. 

The fourteen years old boy had saw how abusing and controlling the King and Queen really were with their daughter, and while the two of them had refused to negotiate with the angry spirit and denied every accusation, the princess had actually been horrified by what she had learned about her family, and she had done everything in her powers to try and fix the problem, even if it meant disobeying her parents. 

After that night, their relationship had definitely changed for the better. Not that they had immediately become friends, Pacifica was still a self-centered, spoiled princess after all, even if Dipper had realized that she was that way because she had been raised that way, and compared to her parents she was actually pretty cool –not everyone could have faced a ghost as bravely as she had. But at least she had stopped treating he and Mabel like dirt, and actually made an effort to be nice to them whenever they were in the same room. 

The real turning point in their relationship had been after the twins had started escorting Pacifica in her travels outside Gravity Falls. 

At the times, the journeys had been quite frequent, since the royals had decided that it was time for their daughter to think about marriage, so they had started sending her to every noble family in the kingdom with a son between fifteen and thirty years of age, in the hope she would find a suitor of her likings.

It had never worked, the princess always completely indifferent to the men she had been introduced to –and it was actually Mabel who had ended up falling in love with the them, almost every single time.

The first few months had passed without any incident, but one day, on the way back to the capital after a visit to yet another castle, their convoy had been attacked by bandits. 

Without thinking about it twice, Mabel had grabbed Pacifica by the wrist and run into the woods to keep her safe, while Dipper and the guards took care of their attackers. It hadn’t took long, thanks to his powers, and the boy would have probably been able to defeat them all on his own. 

He had later found the two girls sitting under a tree, with four bandits who had followed them lying unconscious near them, knocked out by his sister, and Pacifica sobbing on Mabel’s shoulder. Not just out of fear, she had explained later, but out of frustration, anger, sadness, and a thousand other emotions she had been keeping bottled up inside for all her life. 

She had told them how she hated it, that her parents controlled every single detail of her life, how they pressured her to get married even if she really didn’t want to, how she always had to be nothing less than perfect, and she was tired of it.

The three of them had started to grow closer after that day, developing a really strong friendship that wasn’t limited to their journeys outside the capital. Pacifica had taken the habit of sneaking out to visit the twins whenever she needed a break from her life at the palace, and they often spent hours in the forest around the castle, either talking, practicing magic as the princess watched, or even just sitting in silence, enjoying the moment of peace in each other’s company. 

They had to be careful, since the king and queen would never approve of their daughter spending time in the woods with the two magicians, but they had managed to get through two years without being discovered. 

One time, however, Grunkle Stan had caught Dipper and the princess coming out of the woods together, and from that day he had been convinced that the two were having some sort of secret affair, no matter how much the boy denied it.

Mabel had believed that too, for a while, and when she had realized that that wasn’t the case she had tried to make it happen herself, using her –very questionable- matchmaking skills, stating that the two of them would be ‘adorable’ together.

Dipper, though, had never felt anything for Pacifica. Not because he didn’t enjoy spending time with her, which he did, especially since she had matured a lot with age, losing most of her selfishness and shallowness. And neither because he didn’t think she was attractive, which, again, he kinda did. 

But he didn’t think they really had any interest in common, except maybe speaking ill about her parents, and as much as that was a lot of fun, it wasn’t enough to build a solid relationship on. He was glad to be her friend, and he actually felt very protective towards her, but he guessed she just wasn’t his type, and he knew that she felt the same way about him. And in the end, his sister had understood that.

 

It was an unspoken agreement the three of them had that Pacifica would seek mainly Mabel’s company whenever she needed distraction and comfort, since the girl was a lot better than her brother at cheering up people and having mindless fun, while she’d rather go to Dipper when she wanted to talk about serious issues or needed an advice. 

So, as the boy walked towards the main entrance of the palace, he wondered what could have happened that Pacifica wanted to discuss so urgently, since she could have just waited a couple of days for a chance of meeting in the Park like they always did.

A public ceremony wasn’t exactly the ideal condition for having a conversation, since they would be constantly surrounded by people, and the things they usually talked about were definitely not something they wanted anyone to overhear. 

Maybe it was because of what had been said at the Council Meeting the day before. The princess had to know that everyone was going to be very busy with dealing with the Nomads’ situation in the near future, especially Dipper’s family, so she had taken the only opportunity she saw. 

Or maybe the possible crisis really had made everyone paranoid, and she sincerely though she could be in danger even within the walls of the city. But, as much as the thought of Pacifica wanting him close to feel safe was flattering, it wasn’t like her to freak out at the first sign of danger.

She had always been very brave, actually, and it was one of the things Dipper really admired about her. 

 

Being brave, however, definitely didn’t mean being careless.

The princess’ escort consisted, beside himself, of fifteen guards, four slaves, and the carriage’s driver. And this was just a visit to the Town Centre; whenever she traveled outside the capital, the number of guards could be even three times higher.

The Royal Palace was located on a hill right next to the city, surrounded by a small woods and an Inner Wall –to offer ulterior protections aside of the one circling the capital. The journey to reach the Town Centre wasn’t long, but the carriage usually moved very slowly, since only few of the guards accompanying it would ride on a horse while the rest of them, as well as the slaves, were going to walk. 

Only Pacifica and Dipper would be staying inside the carriage, fortunately, and that would grant them at least a little time of privacy before arriving at the ceremony. 

The mage and the princess greeted formally, and didn’t exchange any other word until they got in the vehicle and started moving. Then, in a whispering voice, Dipper recited a spell meant to make sure nobody outside could hear them talking.

Pacifica was familiar with it, since they had used it before, and the second he was done, she let her head fall backwards and groaned loudly.

The boy grinned, always amused -and slightly impressed- by how fast she could put on and off her ‘proper’ facade. “How long have you been keeping that one in?”

“More or less since the last time we talked. Two weeks or something?” She rubbed her eyes tiredly for a long moment, before looking back at him. “Tell me, if I told you I was planning to kill my parents, would you be obliged to stop me, since you swore loyalty to them and everything?”

Dipper grinned again. “Well, technically, I swore loyalty to your family. If you succeed and become Queen, my allegiance goes to you, so I’ll probably help you hide the bodies.”

She smiled softly. “Don’t tempt me.”

There were a few seconds of silence, during which Dipper waited for Pacifica to elaborate on the subject, but when that didn’t happen he decided to address the issue directly. “So, what did they do this time?”

Pacifica sighed. “Oh, you know, trying to dictate my life, controlling everything I do, not letting me make one damn choice by myself. The usual.”

There was another pause, but this time the boy waited for her to continue. He was sure there has to be something more, she looked way too stressed for that to be it.

As expected, she took another deep breath before speaking again. “They had me followed.”

Dipper frowned. “By who? Since when?”

“I don’t know when it started, I only noticed last week. Guards, slaves, maids, take your pick. Wherever I go, there is always someone lurking in the shadow, or walking a few steps behind me. I confronted them about it the other day, they didn’t even denied it! They said it’s for my own protection, but I know that they want to make sure I don’t do anything ‘improper’, or step out of line.”

She looked furious now, and he didn’t blame her. He couldn’t imagine how it was living constantly under that kind of pressure. Even he, who shared a small house with other three people and a bedroom with his sister, had more privacy than that.

“At this point it wouldn’t surprise me if they asked one of yours uncles to enchant the paintings to spy on me too.”

“I don’t think that would be possible, don’t worry,” he murmured with a small smile, “animating portraits is beyond even their abilities. At most you could enchant the eyes to, like, capture images and reflect them in somewhere else, like a mirror? That’s actually an interesting idea, I should talk about it with-“ he notice the glare the princess was sending him, and stopped, swallowing awkwardly. “But it doesn’t matter, you were saying?”

She glared at him for a little while longer before sighing again, resting her head on the back of her seat, eyes closed. “How am I supposed to be a queen one day if I’m not allowed to make any decision? How am I supposed to learn? I know that my dad thinks women are not good enough to rule a kingdom, but if they wanted a son so desperately they should have tried harder after I was born.”

Dipper tried not to picture the scene that those words implied, because he _really_ didn’t need that image forever burned into his brain. He sat awkwardly, trying not to blush, or feel sick for that matter, and luckily Pacifica kept talking, changing the subject.

“At least in the last few months they stopped pressuring to choose a husband. They must have finally understood that’s not going to happen. Have you seen what kind of suitors I have? I don’t know what’s worst, if the awkward, sweaty boys or the creepy old men. _Bah!_ ”

“They weren't all that bad. What about one of Lord Corduroy’s sons?”

The princess snorted. “Well, maybe you should marry them, then, if you think they are so pretty.”

Dipper felt warm raising to his cheeks, and this time he was sure that he was blushing. “Wait, no! I didn’t- I mean, I was just-“

Pacifica laughed, obviously finding his reaction hilarious, and at least she looked a little less tense. “Relax, I was kidding. I know why you really would want me to marry a Corduroy. Because then Lady Wendy would come to visit the Palace more often, am I right?”

It was Dipper’s turn to groan. 

He had had a huge crush on Wendy Corduroy for years, and basically everyone he knew was aware of it, since he may have been just a little bit obsessed with her.

Ok, maybe a lot, but to his defense, he had been thirteen the first time he saw her, and she was beautiful and funny and not like any girl he had ever met before. 

It wasn’t like he’d really thought anything could ever happen between them, since she was three years older than he was, not to mention a member of nobility. And lived in a different region of the kingdom, only visiting the capital with her family once or twice a year. _And_ , probably didn’t even know that he existed. 

Still, it had taken years for him to get over his crush on Wendy, years during which, he admitted, he had annoyed his friends and family talking about her a little too much.

Ok, _maybe a lot_ , but he was over it now. And it was completely unfair for Pacifica to bring it up, since that wasn’t what he had been thinking at all. 

But before he could voice that protest out loud, their carriage slowed down, meaning that they had arrived to town and were going to have to get out at any moment.

The two of them exchanged a look, knowing that there will have to wait until the end of the ceremony to continue the conversation, before Pacifica put her mask back on, while Dipper lowered the spell he had cast earlier. 

 

The streets were crawling with people, everyone converging towards the main Square, where the event was about to take place. The crowd was loud and enthusiastic, in Dipper’s opinion a little too much so.

Despite being the most important city in the kingdom, not much ever happened in Gravity Falls. All the most important occurrences and parties took place at the Palace, which the common people didn’t have access to, and the most entertain the citizen had was to gossip about the nobles and the Royal Family. Little ceremonies like this one were a very big deal, especially since the Princess was attending.

A wooden stage had been built in the middle of the Square, and the Captain of the Guards, as well as other important figures of the town, were already standing on it, waiting for them to begin the ceremony. Behind it, a band was playing the national anthem.

The distance between where the carriage had stopped and the stage was short, but considering how many people there were, it was going to take a good few minutes to cover it. One of the slaves handed the princess a small umbrella to shade her from the sunlight, before retiring with a deep bow and staying behind with the other three slaves and the driver.

Dipper walked a few steps behind Pacifica, keeping his eyes open in case some over-enthusiastic citizen decided to throw himself at the princess’ feet –something that, apparently, happened more often than one would think. 

The guards were assembled around them in a ring shape, not close enough to each other to block Pacifica from the people’s view, but stopping anyone from stepping too close. The princess smiled and waved at everyone with her hand as they walked, and the crowd went wild, cheering and shouting and throwing flowers at her.

It was all a big show, and Dipper didn’t feel very comfortable being at the center of it, even if he knew that nobody’s attention was on him. He was sure that Mabel would enjoy this a lot more than he did.

They had almost reached the stage when, suddenly, a hooded figure appeared right in front of Pacifica, almost colliding with her. 

The cloak he was wearing was of a bright, golden color, and the young mage wondered how the hell the guards had managed not to notice him in time. Most of his face was shaded, but from what he could see, he knew that it was a Nomad man, somewhere in his twenties.

“My apologies, Princess. I almost didn’t see you there.”

Most slaves, including the ones who had been captured as children, still had at least a hint of their native accent even after years living in the Kingdom. The man’s pronunciation, however, was perfect, and for some reason Dipper found that fact unsettling.

Maybe it had nothing to do with the accent, and more with his tone; there was definitely something disturbing in the way he had talked.

“Move aside, slave,” one of the guards intimated, taking a step closer to the man. The latter, however, stayed exactly where he was, as if he hadn’t heard the warning. He raised his hands and lowered his hood, uncovering bright golden hair, almost of the exact same shade of his cloak.

Something clicked inside Dipper’s head, an alarm of danger, but he couldn’t immediately point out the reason for it.

He’d never seen a slave with dyed hair before. It wasn’t a Nomad custom, and no master would allow it even if it was. That he knew of, the only exception were-

“Didn’t you hear me, scum? I told you to leave, now!” The guard put a hand on the cloaked figure’s shoulder to push him away, and from that point everything moved too fast. 

The Nomad murmured a word and the guard fell on the ground, if unconscious or dead, the boy didn’t know.

His mind hadn’t completely caught on what was happening yet, but when the man took a step towards the princess, Dipper’s body acted instinctively. He summoned an energy sphere and threw it at him, hurling him backwards to collide with the crowd, then took Pacifica’s hand and run in the opposite direction.

A thousand different thoughts were starting to buzz in the boy’s head, but he ignored them all. He didn’t have time to think.

Not about why the barrier around Gravity Falls hadn’t worked, not only letting a demon get close to city, but _inside_ it too.

Not about the guard on the ground, and all the others that were going to put themselves between the attacker and his target, without any magic on their side to give them a chance.

Not about the people around them, screaming and running in panic, and that any of them may be a casualty if a duel was about to take place.

Not about the fact that he wasn’t strong enough to win if that happened.

The only thing he had to think about was that they were under attack, and he had to bring Pacifica somewhere safe. She was his princess, his _friend_ , and he couldn’t let anything happen to her. 

It was easy, for about thirty seconds. Every fiber of his being was yelling at him to _run, get away from here, faster, keep her safe_. He could even ignore the screams of the crowd and the roar of something exploding behind him, since the sound of his heart bit was echoing loudly in his ears. 

But then, his brain started working again. 

It was both a bad thing and a good one, since his instincts had had him move fast, but now he realized how mortally dangerous the situation was, and that almost sent him into panic. At the same time, though, he had the mental clarity to know that run wasn’t a good enough plan. 

They couldn’t hope to outmatch the demon on foot. He may be able to, if he was alone, but Pacifica definitely wasn’t dressed to run, nor was she used to it enough to have the endurance to keep it up for long.

Dipper thought about the carriage, but he discarded the idea quickly. Still not fast enough, and they needed to be agile to move through the crowd. A horse alone, however…

The princess was a good rider. She had taken lessons since she was a child, she actually had a chance of escaping unharmed. He’d just have to set one of the two horses free from the carriage, put her on it, and tell her to go. He would stay back to hold their chaser back, and then-

He didn’t have to think about it now.

 

They managed to run through the crowd, arriving almost at the edge of the Square when a wall of blue fire appeared before them, blocking their way. The flames spread fast, running in parallel to the perimeter of the Square, cutting out every exit.

Dipper knew spells for conjuring water, but he could sense that this wasn’t regular fire. Extinguish it wouldn’t be that easy, it would require a lot of power and time, time he knew he didn’t have.

When he turned around, he was expecting to find the demon standing there, but that didn’t stop him for startle when he saw him, less than fifteen feet away, looking right into his eyes. He had gotten rid of his cloak, revealing black, tight slacks, a black shirt and a golden waistcoat. In different circumstances, he would have thought that he looked silly, but right now, surrounded by flames and panic, looking at them with a bright, creepy smile, he was terrifying.

Yet, for the second time, something in the back of his mind told the young mage that there was something wrong, something that didn’t head up about that picture.

He remembered the lessons with his great uncles, what they had taught Mabel and him about demons. 

They usually had a very outlandish look, with colorful clothes, dyed hair, sometimes tattoos; check. They were incredibly dangerous and powerful; check. They were insane and bloodthirsty; if the maniacal grin he had on his face was any indication, definitely check. They had yellow, cat like eyes-

And there it was.

Because, even if the man wasn’t too close, even with all the chaos around them, Dipper could say without any doubt that the man had hazel, normal human eyes.

“I have to say, I wasn’t expecting a real fight today,” the Nomad said, tilting his head slightly as he kept his eyes fixed on Dipper. “So thank you, for making this more entertaining for me”.

The words shook the boy out of his thoughts and back to reality. He realized that Pacifica was still holding his hand, squeezing it tightly, and he squeezed back, trying to reassure her, before letting her go. He was gonna need two hands for this.

_Ok, so, not a demon_ , he pondered, taking a deep breath and trying to make his heart slow down a little. _That’s good_.

He knew that he wouldn’t stand a chance against a demon on his own, so yes, this was definitely good. He was just a man, another magician. He could take him.

When the man took a step closer, Dipper didn’t hesitate. He cast a spell and conjured a lighting, launching it the Nomad’s way. It didn’t get even close to hitting its target, however, as his adversary diverted it with a single wave of his hand, seemingly effortlessly. The lighting ended up somewhere in the crowd of people trapped in the Square with them, and the young mage’s blood run cold upon hearing someone scream in pain.

Dipper tried to ignore his fear, to concentrate only on what he needed to do. He took a step forward and attacked again, trying to tire the man out, make it hard for him to divert his magic on innocent people, repeating in his head all the lessons his great uncles gave him about magic duels -both because he really needed them, and because it helped him to stay calm, having something to list in his head, clear steps to follow.

The Nomad deflected a few more attacks passively, never stopping smiling for a second, making painfully obvious that if Dipper had managed to hit him with the energy sphere at the beginning, it was only because he had taken him by surprise. Then, he started retaliating, and he may have not been a demon, but God was he powerful.

Too powerful, to be just a human.

Dipper knew he didn’t have a lot of experience, that his powers still had a lot to grow, but he was being defeated too easily. The man was unnaturally fast, apparently tireless, and his magic was just… too strong. Just the fact that he could maintain the wall of fire burning this long, _while fighting_ , was unbelievable. 

Not even his great uncles were that powerful, he was sure of it. They had shown to him and Mabel how a real duel between magicians was many times, fighting against each other. And they had decades of practice, while this nomad couldn’t be more than ten years older than he was, maybe even younger.

If it wasn’t for his eyes, he wouldn’t doubt for a second that he was a demon.

Soon, Dipper’s entire strategy went from offensive to defensive, as he was forced several steps backwards, to the point that he could feel the warmth of the flames on his back. 

One particular strike forced him on his knees, and he heard Pacifica screaming near him. He raised his head to look at her, making sure that she was still alright. The Nomad seemed to have forgotten about her, or most probably, he was just going to take him out first before dealing with the princess. Whatever that meant.

Dipper managed to stand up again, even if his legs shook dangerously. The man-demon-whatever he was didn’t take advantage of the moment, obviously not concerned about the boy recovering his energies. He was still grinning, looking like he was having a lot of fun. Like he was just playing with him.

If he wasn’t so terrified, the boy would have been furious.

“Run,” he said, even if he knew that there was nowhere to run. But he needed Pacifica the farthest away from the fight as possible, even if only to buy some time. Time to recover, to come out with a plan, for his family to arrive and save them, for _anything_.

“Run!” he yelled again when the girl didn’t move, and this time she did as she was told, fleeing towards the other side of the Square, where most of the people were piling up.

She didn’t get far. The Nomad didn’t even try to chase her, he simply snapped his finger and the princess fell on the ground, unmoving. Just like the guard had. 

Dipper’s heart stopped. He may have screamed something, but he wasn’t sure, and he didn’t care. 

All that mattered was his friend. He needed to reach her, make sure she was okay, _please be okay, please be okay, please-_

He hadn’t notice the Nomad moving, but suddenly he was right in front of him, a hand on his throat, lifting him from the ground, blocking the air from reaching his lungs.

If he hadn’t been suffocating, Dipper would have been surprised by how strong the other man was, considering that he didn’t look that big. Tall, absolutely, but not particularly muscled.

“Sorry kid,” the Nomad told him, with mockingly fake regret. “Time’s up.” The man raised his hand at his face level, and suddenly it was engulfed by blue flames.

Dipper squirmed and kicked, trying to dislodge from his hold, trying to breathe, but it was all useless. Even magic was out of the question by now, he was too tired, too panicked to do anything.

The Nomad moved his hand towards him slowly, and when it was just an inch away from burning him, he stopped.

Dipper knew he was about to die. There was no way his family would arrive in time, nobody else there was able help, and there was nothing he could do about it. What he could do, however, was not to give the man the satisfaction of seeing his cruel tricks working. 

Ignoring his fear, he looked away from the flames so close to his face and into the Nomad’s eyes, glaring, determined to die with pride. He expected to meet the other’s maniacal grin, but was surprised to see that the man was looking at him with curiosity and calculation, and maybe even a little confusion. 

They stayed like this for a long moment, so long that the edges of Dipper’s vision were starting to blacken out for the lack of oxygen.

Why wouldn’t he just kill him? _Why isn’t he killing me?_

Then, the Nomad murmured a word, something Dipper didn’t recognize, and suddenly the world went black.

 

***

 

“I have to say, I wasn’t expecting a real fight today. So thank you, for making this more entertaining for me.”

Oh, he was more than entertained. He was _delighted_.

It had been too long since the last time he’d really fought someone. Lately, all there had been for him was an awful lot of talking, negotiating, planning, having to stand the company of people that he’d rather be tearing to pieces...

Finally, he could let himself go. Have a little fun, kill something, then take the princess and move on with the plan. Yes, this was definitely a pleasant surprise. 

Still, it wasn’t exactly an epic match. Sure, the kid was powerful, he could sense it, and very resolute, but he was also obviously inexperienced, and he seemed to be holding back not to hurt innocent people.

Cute.

So it wasn’t hard to defeat the boy. He even dragged it on for a little while, but in the end, he had him squirming in his grasp. “Sorry kid, time’s up.”

He grinned at the sight of terror in his eyes, pleased to having defeated yet another enemy, for how insignificant he was, he was about to end his life when-

**Stop.**

He froze. 

Was something wrong? No other magician was near, and the princess was still unconscious, he could feel it.

**Don’t kill him.**

He frowned. _Why?_

**On his forehead. He’s marked by the stars.**

He tried to look, but thick, brown hair covered the kid’s face until right above his eyes. However, he didn’t doubt for a second that the mark was there.

**He's the right one.**

Now he was really surprised. 

He took a long look at the boy. He didn’t really look like anything special. There was nothing particular about him, nor extraordinary. Except a mark from the stars, apparently.

_As you wish._

He whispered a spell, and the boy immediately fell asleep in his arms. He carried him to where the princess was lying, and crouched down to put a hand on her arm. Before vanishing, he cast another spell, reassembling the flames in the Square. 

Then he was gone, the two kids with him, and in his place he left a burning shape of a triangle with a single eye inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Between Easter and an approaching exam, I don't know how long will it take me to finish chapter 3. I already started writing it tho, so it's coming, do not fear!  
> Thanks for reading! :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Dipper wakes up in an unfamiliar place..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I'm sorry it took so long, but here it is!  
> This chapter was... tricky to write. Not only because I had a lot to study, but because I spent so much time writing and re-writing the first part.  
> I hope I managed to express everything that I wanted to express, without making this too boring or unnecessarily long. And gosh, is it long... How do the chapters keep getting long? I didn't plan this...  
> Let me know what you think!
> 
> I want to thank Eiris for being my beta, and saving you all from reading stupid ass mistakes and awkward sentences!
> 
> Also, I've made a tumblr account just for this story (and probably some BillDip stuff), so you can know how the updates are going or if you want to ask me some questions, it's more likely I'll answer you there! You can find me [here](http://chronicles-of-falls.tumblr.com/)

The first thing Dipper realized when he woke up was that he felt awful. 

His head hurt, his body felt numb and heavy, and there was a weird taste in his mouth he couldn’t really identify. 

It reminded him a little of the first time he had gotten drunk, on his sixteenth birthday, when Grunkle Stan had taken Mabel and him to a pub in town to have their first drinks. He had woken up the morning after with a terrible hangover, and at the moment he was feeling pretty much the same way.

The second thing he realized, was that he didn’t know where he was. 

He was lying on his side on a cold, stone floor –that explained at least partially why he was so sore- in an empty and unfamiliar room, illuminated only by a torch on the wall. He rolled on his back with a groan, shutting his eyes when the motion sent a sharp pain through his head.

He didn’t know how long he’d been sleeping, but he felt exhausted. He also noticed that his throat was hurting pretty badly, and it took him a few more seconds to remember that he’d almost been strangled the day before.

The third thing Dipper realized, snapping his eyes open despite the pain, was that he was still alive.

As the haze in his mind dissipated, he started to recall everything that had happened in the city’s Square, and with the memories also returned the grip of panic in the pit of his stomach that threatened not to let him breathe.

Why was he still alive? He remembered the demon –no, not a demon- almost burning his face off. Had he changed his mind? Or had he just been trying to scare him? In either case, what was he doing here? 

_Where even_ is _here?_

Dipper jumped to his feet quickly, too quickly, dizziness overcoming him and forcing him to lean against the wall. He felt like he had been drugged, but it was probably just the effect of whatever spell the Nomad had cast on him to knock him out.

He looked around the room, trying to find out something about that place, and that’s when he realized a fourth thing, something that he really should have noticed a lot sooner.

The room didn’t have a door. 

No door, no windows, no way out whatsoever. There were only four, solid-looking stone walls.

He was trapped. Buried alive, left there to suffocate, and maybe it was already happening, because he felt like he couldn’t _breathe_.

How long had he been in there? Without any windows, he had no way of knowing what time it was. He couldn’t tell if he had been asleep only for a few hours, for a day, or for a whole week!

Was this just some sadistic way of torturing him, of making him suffer more before he died? Or did the Nomad want something from him, and was just keeping him there for when he would need him?

Need him for what, he couldn’t figure. He was almost certain that the man had been surprised by his presence at the ceremony, and it was obvious that his target had been Pacifica.

Dipper’s heart sank, remembering the princess falling on the ground, unmoving, unconscious, maybe even-

He couldn’t even _think_ the word.

This shouldn’t have happened. Gravity Falls was protected, the barrier around the city had never failed before. It should have been impossible for anyone to break it from the outside, no matter how powerful the Nomad was.

And what if there wasn’t just one nomad? If the barrier was down, an entire army could be invading the capital right now. 

Maybe that was the plan, taking out the Royal Family one by one before bringing down the Kingdom, and while the blond took care of the princess, somebody else attacked the Palace to kill the King and Queen. 

If that was the case, there was no doubt that his family had been involved in a fight. What if they hadn’t won? What if something happened to Ford, to Stan, to _Mabel_ -

No. No, no, no, _no_. 

He needed to calm down. He was on the verge of a panic attack, and freaking out wouldn’t help anyone, not his family, not his friend, and definitely not himself. 

At most, he would consume the air in the room faster. 

He slid down the wall and sat, hugging his knees against his chest, taking deep breaths and trying to regain control over himself. 

He needed to think, rationally, and figure out what to do. He had been trained for this, for facing danger, and losing it was not how he was going to come out of the situation alive. 

He needed a plan. 

He had always liked making plans, he was _good_ at making plans. It made him feel prepared, relaxed, something he could definitely use at the moment. 

He took a few minutes just to breathe and cool down, until he felt like he could think clearly again. Then, trying to ignore his fear and concentrate only on the facts, he started examining his situation more closely. 

First, he realized that he was hungry, but not starving, so he couldn’t have been unconscious for more than a day. That information made him feel a little better, since whatever had happened in Gravity Falls after the attack, maybe it wasn’t too late to stop it.

Next, he cupped his hands and used his magic to conjure fresh water, mostly because he was thirsty, but also because he needed to know if he could do it.

There were ways to prevent a magician from using their powers, by administering them some kinds of drugs or, in more extreme cases, tattooing a particular symbol on their skin. Luckily, however, his kidnapper hadn’t believed it to be necessary. 

Maybe he thought that, even with his magic, Dipper wouldn’t be able to escape from his cell.

He looked around more carefully, trying to figure out if there was some sort of trap hidden in there, and if he could figure out something more about the place.

The room was approximately sixty square feet. Despite the torch, it was cold, and a little damp, so probably he was somewhere underground, like a cellar. Or a dungeon. 

Tearing down a wall wouldn’t be particularly difficult for the young mage, but it probably wouldn’t be wise, not without knowing just _how deep_ underground he was, and how solid the stone was. He had to be careful not to make the room collapse, burying himself alive.

Also, he had no idea of what was waiting for him outside. He could be surrounded by enemies, or by all kinds of danger. 

With another rush of panic, he realized that it was highly probable that he wasn’t in Gravity Falls anymore. 

If the city hadn’t fallen yet, then surely all the King’s forces, magical and non, would be on the Nomad’s tracks by now, so it made sense that the man would have run as far away as he could.

Not that he could have gone _that_ far, especially with one – or, hopefully, two- prisoners.

Then again, after what he had seen him do the day before, the boy honestly didn’t know what to expect. Maybe he shouldn’t make the mistake of underestimating his enemy, or assume what he could or couldn’t do.

And ifd the capital had been taken… well, that didn’t matter at the moment. 

Reluctantly, Dipper pushed every concern about his family to the back of his mind, knowing that he needed to concentrate on the here and now. They could take care of themselves, and they had been together, so, whatever had happened, they surely had more chances to get through it than he did. 

At the moment, his priority was getting out of that room. Before suffocating, hopefully. 

Then, he would determine where he was, and if Pacifica was there with him. If she was, then he needed to take her to safety, escape from whatever place they were trapped in, and, if he had the chance, find out what the hell was going on in the process. 

Only then he would try and reach his family, who hopefully were still at the Castle, or even better already on their way to rescue him and the princess.

All of this, he needed to do while trying to avoid another confrontation with the Nomad. 

He hadn’t been able to defeat him the first time, and he definitely couldn’t now, since he wasn’t exactly in his best shape. Not to mention that he had the horrible feeling that the man had actually been holding _back_ during their fight.

_Ok, so… that’s a plan. Now I just have to go through with it._

Slowly, Dipper rose to his feet, and was pleased to find out that he didn’t feel as dizzy and weak as he did before.

He turned to face one of the walls, examining it closely, looking for any kind of information that would help him escape.

If he could find out what was outside the room, and if someone was waiting for him there, then he would knew if it was safe to use his powers to dig himself a way out.

He silently thanked his past self for all the nights spent studying his great uncle’s spell books, because he suddenly remembered reading about one particular charm that should allowed him to perceive the space around him, even through and beyond solid objects. 

He had never tried it before, so he didn’t know exactly how it would work, but he didn’t really have any other option, and he couldn’t afford to waste time with useless second thoughts and doubts. 

He put both his hands on the wall, closing his eyes to concentrate on his magic, before taking a deep breath, and murmuring “ _Persentio._ ” 

The sensation was so weird that Dipper almost ended the spell out of surprise.

It was like part of his mind slipped out of his body and into the stone, and he could _feel_ it, like a part of him, solid, cold, thick. 

He could sense the distinct blocks of stone that had been stocked together, and the little bugs that crawled in the space between them. 

He could also say, although he didn’t know how, that the building he was in was very old, built five or six centuries before.

Dipper pushed his mind deeper and deeper, trying to reach the other side, but after fifteen feet of nothing but stone he gave up, breaking the connection. 

It wasn’t safe to dig an exit in that direction. It would take a lot of time, and make a lot of noise in the process, and he was really hoping to keep his escape a secret for as long as possible.

Also, there was the risk that the structure above him would collapse if he messed too much with its foundation, and using magic to make a tunnel stable for a short period of time would require a lot of energy, energy he wanted to save for whatever he would have to face once outside.

Trying not to feel too worried, and hoping that at least one of the other walls would be thinner, he moved to inspect the next one, repeating the spell like he had done it the first time. 

The result, however, was exactly the same.

“That’s typical,” Dipper murmured to himself, leaning on the wall he had just inspected to rest for a moment. “The good one is going to be the last one I check.”

Truth was, he was starting to feel claustrophobic. 

He kept picturing himself buried hundreds of feet under the ground, nothing but earth all around him, so deep that not even his magic could help him dig his way out.

Rationally, he knew that it was an unrealistic scenario, but his brain just didn’t seem to be getting the message. Maybe Mabel was right, when she said he was paranoid. 

Dipper wished she were there with him. She’d know what to say, how to cheer him up, how to make him believe that everything was going to be fine. Not to mention that, with her powers to help him, he’d have a lot more chances to escape.

Thinking about it, if his twin had been with him at the Square, maybe he wouldn’t have been kidnapped in the first place. They could have faced the Nomad together, and if not defeat him, at least held him back long enough for their great uncles to arrive and help. 

On the other hand, though, Dipper was glad that he’d been alone. Mabel could have got hurt during the fight, or kidnapped with him. And if he was going to die, at least he’d have the comfort of knowing that his sister was safe.

Probably.

“It’s going to be fine,” he said out loud, because he needed to hear it, even from his own voice. “I’m going to be fine. Everyone’s going to be fine.”

It was useless to think about what could and could not have happened, anyways. He needed to focus, and worrying about things he couldn’t control wasn’t going to help anyone.

He moved to face the next wall, taking a deep breath and pushing away any other thought, concentrating only on his powers and the spell.

“ _Persentio,_ ” he murmured for the third time, and once again, he sensed stone. Nothing but-

Nothing.

The wall ended after less than two feet, replaced by empty space. 

Dipper felt a wave of relief wash over him. 

He kept exploring, trying to find the perimeter of the area he just discovered. There was another wall, facing the one he was behind, after only a few yards, but moving laterally, he couldn’t find any other obstruction, no matter how far he let his mind travel. 

Also, he hadn’t noticed at first, but there was something about this wall that was different from the previous two. There was a part of it that didn’t quite fit with the rest, like if it had been added recently where previously there was nothing.

Dipper ended the spell, considering the new information. It wasn’t hard for him to put two and two together: the room used to have a door, that had been probably walled up specifically to trap him, and behind it, there was a corridor.

Well, at least he wasn’t buried hundreds of feet under the ground.

A cellar or a dungeon were more likely options. He’d already established that the building was old, and it also seemed to be quite big.

From what he had studied about the nomads, he knew that they didn’t live in stone houses, since the Tribes moved constantly from one place to another. But they did have Temples, that were solid constructions, usually built inside mountains to protect them from being damaged by sand storms. 

Dipper realized with dread that he may manage to escape his cell only to find himself lost in the middle of the desert, maybe even hundreds of miles into Nomad’s territory, with no idea of which way to go.

_Stop it, you’re just being paranoid again._

Not even the Nomad could travel that far in just one day, no matter how freakishly powerful he was. 

And wherever that place was, he would figure out what to do later, once he was out and as far away as possible. He needed to stick to the plan, face one problem at a time.

Before proceeding with his escape, Dipper checked the last wall too, just to be sure, but it turned out to be as thick as the first two. It didn’t concern him particularly, on the contrary, he took it as a good news; with three solid walls supporting the room, he could tear down the fourth one without worrying about it collapsing. 

What _did_ worry him, however, was the noise. 

He hadn’t sensed anyone nearby before when he had inspected the corridor –and he double checked anyways, just to be sure-, but an explosion could definitely draw unwanted attention.

There were a couple of other options, like making the stone melt or disappear completely, but once again, Dipper had to consider the energy it would require.

Most people believed that magic could make a person capable of just anything, but they never considered the cost it had.

King Preston –as his father before him- had often asked his great uncles to perform impossible tasks, convinced that having magicians at his service would make him practically omnipotent. It had took a long time for Stanford to make the Northwests understand that magic didn’t work that way.

Dipper himself had learned that lesson the hard way. He used to be an overly enthusiastic, careless thirteen years old kid, who thought he could just borrow his Grunkle’s spell book one night and practice by himself. He’d been sure that, as long as he avoided the more obviously dangerous charms, nothing wrong could have happened.

When he’d woke up, three days later, he had endured the worst scolding of his life.

They had explained it to him then, and to Mabel too –once she stopped crying out of both relief and anger at her brother’s stupidity. 

Magic had rules, and it always demanded a price, even for the most apparently harmless spells. It was easier to manipulate natural elements than objects that had been created or tampered by man and simpler to affect nonliving matter than biological matter. The farther and bigger the target of one’s magic was, the more energy would be required. Changing the nature of an object was a lot harder than affecting it from the outside, even if the result was the same.

Dipper had never forgotten those lessons, and he repeated them in his head as he weighed his options. 

Deciding that saving his strength was more important than being quiet, he took a deep breath, summoned an energy sphere –careful not to make it too big-, and launched it towards the wall.

He hoped that he wasn’t going to regret his choice, because that was _loud_. 

Clouds of dust invaded the room, and Dipper took several steps back, coughing harshly and protecting his eyes behind his forearm.

When he dared to look, once the air seemed to be clear enough, he saw the huge hole he had made in the wall, and couldn’t help but smile. He once again conjured water in his palms and drank, washing the dust from his throat, then, warily, he made his way out of the room, careful when he stepped over the wreckages of stone.

There weren’t any torches outside, the only light came from the one inside his cell, so Dipper was forced to conjure a ball of fire in his hand to examine his surroundings. 

As he had predicted, it was a corridor, not particularly wide, but apparently very long. On his right, he could see the passage finish in a dead-end a little further than fifty feet away, but on the left it continued beyond where his light could reach, fading into pitch darkness. 

Dipper wouldn’t say that he afraid of the dark, per se, but he definitely wasn’t a fan of what could hide inside of it. Especially since he was in an unfamiliar place, running for his life, and had no idea of how many enemies could be standing in his way. 

He could feel his stomach clench in fear and uneasiness at the prospect of walking through that creepy looking path, but it wasn’t like he had any other alternatives. 

“ _Fluctua_ ,” he whispered, making the sphere of fire lift from his hand and float in front of him, so that he had both his hands free. Then, he started walking.

Dipper was listening carefully for any kind of noise that would alert him that someone was close, but all he could hear was his own breathing, and the sound of his steps. He swore he could even hear his heart beating fast inside his chest, but maybe he was just imagining it.

The silence was unnerving, and he had to fight against the need to talk to himself out loud. Instead, he concentrated on studying his surrounding, trying to find any kind of information about the place. 

At first glance, there didn’t seem to be anything notable or helpful. The corridor was narrow and completely made of stone, as cold as the room had been. Approximately every fifteen feet there was a wooden support where a torch was supposed to be, but for some reason all of them had been removed. 

Then, after several yards, he noticed a door.

Dipper stopped right in front of it, eyeing it with suspect. Not taking any risk, he used ‘ _Persentio_ ’ again to search for human presences behind it, and when he didn’t find any, he opened the door slowly, peaking inside. 

There was a room, as big as the one he had woken up in, but unlike that one, this wasn’t empty; it was stocked with boxes and boxes of food, all of it –at least judging by the smell- still fresh. 

There had to be a lot of people living in that place…

He found other rooms as he walked further, some of them filled with food –and sometimes, wine-, while others were empty. At least, he thought, that didn’t seem to be a dungeon.

It may have been because he was walking slowly, careful with every step he took, expecting an ambush or some kind of trap at any moment, but to Dipper it felt like the corridor was endless. Every once in a while he thought he’d heard a noise and froze, heart pounding in his chest, waiting for someone to attack him, and when nothing happened he was left wondering if there was really something moving somewhere or it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

When _finally_ the straight path ended and the corridor made a turn, it seemed like an eternity had passed since he had started walking, even though it had probably been just a few minutes.

Behind the corner, the passage seemed to continue exactly the same way it had before, but after only a few steps the light from Dipper’s magic reached something different, something that filled the boy’s heart with both relief and nervous anticipation: stairs. 

They weren’t particularly long, thankfully, and he reached the top quickly, finding himself facing an big, wooden door. 

_This is it,_ he thought, swallowing nervously. _Time to face whatever is waiting on the other side._

He once again used the spell to check if there was anyone on the other side, and, once again, he found out that the place was deserted. The door was locked, but he fixed that easily using his powers and, after a deep breath, he pushed it open.

The bright light of day blinded him, forcing Dipper to shut his eyes with a groan. He’d definitely been underground too long, and now the sun was hurting him even behind his closed lids. 

Nevertheless, he was relieved to finally be out of the darkness. And when fresh, crisp air suddenly filled his lungs, it felt like coming back to life, like he’d been just holding his breath until that moment. 

He waited a few more moments before he dared opening his eyes again, blinking fast to adapt to the light, and once he managed to focus his surroundings, he found out he was in a kitchen.

A very big, warm looking kitchen. 

It reminded him of the one in Gravity Fall’s castle, fitted to feed tens, even hundreds of people if necessary. Along two of the walls there were big, wooden sideboards, filled with bottles, dishes and expensive-looking glasses, as well as other common kitchen items.

In the middle of the room four tables had been arranged side by side, and above them were lying several dead and partially skinned rabbits, vegetables and dirty knives, as if someone had been cooking but then abandoned everything in a hurry.

Behind it, a door and two large windows opened onto what seemed to be a flourishing garden. Another door, this one closed, lead somewhere else inside the building.

In one of the corners, a fireplace was lit, the fire crackling and warming up the place. 

Dipper let his own sphere of fire extinguish, since he obviously didn’t need it anymore. He had already started to suspect it, but it was now evident that the basement he just left was a pantry. 

That didn’t make much sense, though. That place didn’t look like a Nomad Temple, but more like a big, rich manor. 

He was still in Falls, that was for sure. That thought should have been comforting, but Dipper couldn’t help but feel a growing uneasiness, different from the one he’d experienced walking through the dark corridor below. 

Where was everyone? Did nobody hear the explosion when he’d blown up the wall before? Shouldn’t his captor had sent someone to stop him?

Why would a nomad even bring him to a place like this?

Dipper had no idea, or maybe he had too many, hundreds of hypothesis buzzing in his head, each one crazier and more disturbing than the other. 

Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, he crossed the kitchen and walked outside, finding himself in what was, indeed, a huge, fancy garden, with hedges, trees, and lots of beautiful, multicolored flowerbeds. 

A quick look around and at the building he’d just exited, and the boy realized, as his mouth fell wide open, that he wasn’t in a manor, like he had speculated before. 

He was in a _castle_.

An actual castle, at least five floors tall, counting the window lines, without considering the two towers that rose from its roof towards the sky. 

A fifteen feet tall wall separated the garden from a forest of pine trees, and all around the place soared a _massive_ mountain range, that Dipper didn’t recognize. 

There weren’t mountains that high anywhere near Gravity Falls. The only place in the Kingdom that could have a landscape like that was the Lattermost Dorsal, in the far northeast region, right at the border with the Nomad’s Territory. 

More than a hundred miles away from the Capital. 

The boy’s heart sank, realizing just how far from home he was. How the hell did he get there in just one day? How was he even going to go back? Would he walk all the way? That would take weeks!

 _Look at the bright side, Dipper. At least you know where you are now._

Yes, that was true. Even if he wasn’t sure exactly what his position was, he knew that he would have to travel south west, and sooner or later he would meet some place he was more familiar with, or someone who could help. He was capable of orienting himself using the sun and the stars, and using his powers to procure food and water. He could do it. 

He had to do it.

But first, he needed to find Pacifica.

Leaving without her wasn’t an option, no matter how dangerous remaining there was. All the more reasons for rescuing her, actually. It was his duty to protect the princess, a task he’d already failed we he had let them be kidnapped in the first place. 

And if for any reason she wasn’t there… He needed to check anyways, he needed to be sure. He would never forgive himself otherwise. 

Dipper tore his eyes away from the castle’s wall, focusing on where to start looking; he could either go back inside, take the other door from the kitchen and explore the rest of the building, or stay outside, look for clues and other entrances, and possibly locate the way out of the garden.

He decided to go with the second option. The idea of going back inside made him feel claustrophobic, like he was walking right into a trap, but it wasn’t the only reason. The more he stayed in that place, the more likely it was that he was going to get caught, and in the eventuality he’d have to run for his life, knowing in advance where the escape route was could be extremely helpful.

So, he started walking alongside the building, studying his surroundings and keeping his eyes open for any sign of danger. 

Even if being in the open and not surrounded by darkness was helping his nerves a lot, he still felt very on edge. Not that Dipper wasn’t glad he hadn’t been attacked yet, but the complete silence and desolation were really starting to creep him out.

That castle may not have been as big as Gravity Falls’, but it was still huge, and obviously in excellent conditions. The plants had been watered and pruned regularly, the grass was cut and flourishing, everything simply looked clean and well cared for, both outside and back in the kitchen.

The young mage knew, from years living just outside the Royal Palace, that maintaining a place of those dimensions required tens, maybe even hundreds of staff members. Without counting the nobles who actually owned it.

It already made no sense that the Nomad would take him in such a place, but what the hell had happened to the people who lived there?

The whole situation felt like he had woken up in one of the dark fairy tales from his childhood. Mysteries, danger, a beautiful location, amazing and terrifying adventures…

_Definitely more terrifying than amazing, from this point of view._

Dipper kept circling around the castle, walking for more than ten minutes and only covering about half of its perimeter, when he finally spotted what he’d been hoping to find: a big, iron gate opened on a dirt road that lead down the mountain through the forest, away from the castle, hopefully towards South. 

Just like it had been up to that moment, there wasn’t anyone on sight, no guards at the gate’s sides making sure the prisoners didn’t escape, and Dipper didn’t know if he should have felt relieved or suspicious.

Did the Nomad really think he wouldn’t be able to escape the room he had trapped him in? What sense did it make, going as far as _entombing_ him alive and then not even caring to protect the way out of the castle?

Dipper didn’t even _need the gate_ , he could simply blow a hole in the wall, like he had done before. What he had really wanted to find was the road.

‘ _If you are chased though an unfamiliar land, avoid taking the main road, but always know where it is. Getting lost can be as deadly as getting caught_ ,’ Grunkle Stan’s voice echoed clearly in his head. 

Sometimes, he had found it odd, how specific some of his mentor’s lessons could be, but right now he was nothing but grateful.

From the gate, the road continued, paved, inside the garden, leading right to what had to be the main entrance of the castle, a huge, wooden door that was open on an empty hall.

Dipper ignored it for the moment. He wanted to finish checking the outside before going back into the building, just in case there were other ways out of the place, or anything really that could turn out to be helpful.

He hadn’t gone far, however, when he suddenly saw something moving in the tail of his eye. 

He turned his head just enough to see the profile of a man walking about fifty feet from him, before his body moved automatically and he ducked behind one of the hedges, as his heart, which already hadn’t been beating at a normal rate since he had woken up, started hammering in his chest even faster. 

_Stay calm… Don’t panic, you have to stay calm…_

The boy stayed there like that for a few, interminable moments, biting his lips to keep himself from making any sound, ears open to catch any sign of immediate danger. He could hear the man’s steps, now that he was paying attention to it, but he didn’t seem to be moving towards his direction. 

After a few more seconds, Dipper decided to risk it and, as quietly as he could, he peeped above the hedge and looked towards the mysterious figure. 

By the way he was acted, walking slowly and looking straight forward, the young mage deduced that the man hadn’t noticed him yet. 

It only took a moment to know that the other wasn’t the Nomad who he had battled the day before –he had dark hair, and wasn’t nearly as tall-, and a few more to notice that he wasn’t a nomad at all. 

He wasn’t facing him directly, but even at that distance Dipper could clearly see that his skin was light, and his features typical of the people of Falls.

That didn’t mean that he was immediately going to let his guard down, though. The situation was too suspicious, everything about that place just felt wrong, and until he had more answers, he was going to trust no one.

However, if he played his cards right, maybe he could turn this into the perfect opportunity to find those answers. 

The man was dressed as a servant, meaning that he probably was one of those staff members he had been wondering about. It also meant that it was very unlikely that he was a magician, and consequently very easy to take down. 

Whether he had any connections to the Nomads or not, he _had_ to know at least something about what was going on. Questioning him was his best chance to finally understand what was happening.

Dipper hid again before the other could see him, and started thinking about how to proceed. A part of him was not sure about this, worried that it might be a trap, or that someone else could arrive at any moment, and about a thousand other things that could go wrong.

For what had to be the hundredth time that day, he resolved to just ignore that part.

He listened again for the man’s steps, trying to locate approximately his position using his hearing and the memory from before. Then, when he felt fairly confident, he took a deep breath and murmured, “ _Radices Involvent._ ”

There was a startled gasp, then a thud, then silence. 

Dipper stood up slowly, looking around to make sure nobody else was in sight, before hurrying to the spot where the man had just fallen.

He found the servant on the ground, completely immobilized by the strong roots that the mage had summoned to attack him, that had wrapped around his legs, his arms and torso, and even his face, covering his mouth and keeping him from screaming.

_I tied up a man. And now I’m going to interrogate him. Totally no reasons to freak out here._

To be fair, considering the circumstances, he wasn’t freaking out _nearly_ as much as he could have. Actually, for the first time since he had awoken in that damn place, he was finally feeling in control of the situation, even if just a little bit. 

Hell, he had been kidnapped first, he had all the rights to tie up people and interrogate them if he needed to. 

Trying not to overthink it, Dipper crouched down near the servant’s head and push his shoulder to roll him on his back, so that he could look at him in the face. The man was terrified, watching him with wide eyes and struggling against his restraints, uselessly. 

“I’ll free your mouth now, but you better not scream, or I’ll make you regret it.” He tried to appear as confident and intimidating, and he hoped that the phrase had only sounded pathetic in his own head. The other looked scared enough, so it took it as a good sign. “Just answer my questions, and I won’t hurt you. Understood?”

When the man nodded, Dipper used his magic to remove the makeshift gag, and was relieved when the servant did as he was told and remained silent.

“Good. Now, tell me. The princess, Pacifica Northwest, is she here?”

The man nodded once, hesitantly, before speaking with a weak and trembling voice, “Y-yes.”

Dipper felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his heart. She was there, she was alive. 

She was alive.

“Where?” He continued, eager to go find his friend and get the farther possible from there as soon as possible.

“O-on the fourth floor. Just take the stairs from the Main Hall and then the corridor on the right. She is the second room on the right.”

The man looked impatient to finish that conversation too, obviously fearing that Dipper was going to hurt him, despite his promise not to, and the boy actually felt a little bad. For all he knew, the servant may be a hostage too, but he wasn’t going to let doubts interfere with his escape. 

“Okay, one last thing. Is the Nomad here, now? Or any of his people?”

Dipper didn’t miss how the man’s eyes widened at the mention of the golden haired magician, but after a moment he shook his head slowly. “He isn’t. He left, right after he brought you here. He was alone, n-no one else of his kind. ”

The young mage let himself sigh in relief, no more caring about looking intimidating to the other. It was almost too good to be true.

He wasn’t stupid, he knew that it was far from over. He couldn’t let his guard drop, the Nomad could return at any moment, or there could be other dangers hidden in the castle, and beside that, he and Pacifica still would have to cross half the kingdom to go back home.

But at least the grip of panic and anxiety in his stomach had started to loosen up a little.

Dipper looked down at the servant again, thinking about what to do with him. He didn’t want to hurt the man, but he couldn’t just let him go free, either. Not after he had seen him, it was too risky.

He was going to have to find a compromise.

“ _Dormi,_ ” he said, and immediately the other fell into a deep sleep. The boy released him from the roots and rolled him until he was under one of the hedges, impossible to spot unless someone walked right in front of it. Hopefully that would buy him enough time to get away before anyone found out what he did.

If there even was anyone else around.

Without any time to lose, he approached the castle’s entrance, stepping into the hall not without a good share of nervousness. He immediately located the stairs the servant had mentioned, on the left, while on the other side started a corridor that had to lead to the other rooms of the ground floor. 

That place was surely elegant, but it had nothing of the flaunted luxury of the Northwest’ Palace. There were no pompous statues, no painfully bright decorations, no portraits figuring the owners’ family in heroic or dignified poses. 

In other circumstances, Dipper could have appreciated the beauty in the architecture’s simplicity. At the moment, however, all he felt was uneasiness, a slight fear in the back of his mind for which he couldn’t really point the reason.

 

_Maybe it’s because this is almost too good to be true._

 

The only extravagant element in the Hall was a big tapestry that hung from the wall facing the door, portraying a golden, eyed triangle on a black background. 

There was something familiar about the symbol, Dipper had the feeling he had seen it before, but he couldn’t remember where. He didn’t waste any time trying to figure it out, however, and immediately diverted his attention from the weird figure to the stairs. 

If he didn’t run all the way up to the fourth floor, it was only because he was worried about making too much noise. He did walk very quickly, thought, as quickly as stealthy steps and continuously turning around to watch out for danger allowed him. 

The closer he got to his destination, the more he feared that something was about to go wrong, that he was going to get caught. He knew that it was just his paranoia again, but he just couldn’t help it.

He really, _really_ didn’t like that place, he didn’t like the silence and the emptiness, he didn’t like not knowing what the hell was going on. 

Part of him was regretting not taking more time to interrogate the servant further, finding out everything he knew. But that wouldn’t have been wise, he _didn’t have_ more time, so he was just going to have to suck it up and ignore his fears –and his curiosity.

At the top of the stairs on the fourth floor started three different corridors, and Dipper took the one on the right, like he had been told. 

Unlike the basement, here there were many torches illuminating the place, plus the sunlight coming from the large window behind the stairway. As much as seeing where he was going made him feel calmer, however, by the time he reached the second door on the right the boy was holding his breath in anticipation. 

The servant had told him that the princess was here, and Dipper couldn’t think of any reason why the man should have lied, but he couldn’t help worrying anyway. Even if Pacifica was in there, she could be hurt, or maybe the Nomad had enchanted her somehow. 

What if she wasn’t in any condition to run? How was he going to take her to safety, then? He should have thought about this sooner, what if-

_Stop stalling and open the freaking door!_

Dipper drew a shaky breath and swallowed. He thanked the voice in his head –that had sounded suspiciously like Mabel- for snapping him out of another semi-panic attack, and shut out all his stupid fears and doubts.

He murmured “ _Persentio_ ,” one last time, to check if Pacifica was really in there, and if she was alone. The room behind the door was very large, and the boy examined it thoroughly until he was sure that there was only one person inside, a single, steady heartbeat. 

Sighing in relief, Dipper ended the spell and, without further delay, he turned the knob and pushed the door open.

***

Pacifica was awakened by the sound of her bedroom’s door opening, and the steps of someone walking inside. 

She tried to open her eyes, but the sunlight blinded her, forcing her to hide her face into the pillow with a grunt. 

She felt _awful_. Everything hurt, from limbs to her stomach to her head. 

Did she have a fever? It didn’t feel like a fever, it was more like she had eaten something that made her feel sick. 

She rolled on her back, trying once again to open her eyes, and stared tiredly at the ceiling. 

For a moment she just stayed there, wondering why had she been allowed to sleep late, and why did the mattress feel different, and why was the ceiling the wrong color, before she suddenly remembered everything and literally jumped out of the bed. 

Oh God, she had been kidnapped. 

Pacifica had always knew that being a princess meant that she was going to get targeted, that some people would want to hurt her, or kill her, or use her to get to her parents. 

She had tried to prepare herself for that eventuality, so that if the time came she could face the danger with dignity and calm, but right now she was obviously failing. 

She was in pain, she was scared, she didn’t have the faintest idea of where she was, and she definitely wasn’t _calm_.

Someone coughed on the other side of the room, and the girl suddenly remembered that she had woken up at the sound of somebody entering the room. 

Panicking and barely holding back from screaming, Pacifica turned at the table near the bed and grabbed the closest object she found –which happened to be a bronze candlestick- and pointed it towards the strange person near the door. 

It was a man, definitely not the same man who had attacked her at the Square. He was tall and large, dressed like a servant, holding a food tray in his slightly shaky hands.

He almost looked more scared of her than she was of him, and that gave the princess the courage to recompose herself –still not lowering the candlestick, thought- and to speak with a firm voice.

“I demand you to tell me who you are, where I am, and to let me go immediately.”

“Uhm,” was all the man said, looking around as if he had no idea of how to proceed from there. 

Had she been kidnapped by an idiot?

“My name is Soos,” the servant said finally, after a few more seconds of hesitation. “And we’re in the Claymore Estate, on the Lattermost Dorsal. And, uhm… I am sorry, I can’t let you go. It’s not up to me, but to my master. I am very sorry.”

Pacifica blinked, taking in all the new information.  
The first thing that came to her mind was _The Lattermost Dorsal? But that’s so far!_

The second thing she thought, was-

“Wait, so _Lord Claymore_ had me kidnapped?”

The Claymore Family was an old, but minor noble dynasty of Falls, that lived in one of the northernmost regions of the Kingdom. It had been a very rich, influent House a couple of centuries back, since the Lattermost Dorsal used to be full of gold mines, but then all the gold had run out, and the Claymores were left with several castles scattered between the mountains, a noble title, but no political relevance whatsoever. 

They still used to be invited to the most important ceremonies at the capital, until a few years back the current lord, Harry Claymore, had apparently gone mad, and secluded himself with all his family in one of their castles on the Dorsal, and never appeared publicly again. 

Nobody at the Palace had really cared, so nobody thought about checking if the rumors were true, but now Pacifica was starting to wonder if there was something more behind Claymore’s suddenly disappearance. 

“What? Oh, no. Not at all.” The servant –Soos- answered, looking confused and a little awkward. “No, you see, uhm… Lord Claymore is dead. He’s been dead for years.”

The princess was taken aback by the news, but before she could ask more explanation, Soos continued talking. “I was talking about the Demon. The current Master of the castle.”

Right, the Demon. Because she had been kidnapped by a Demon, back at the Square.

Gosh, did it mean that what had been discussed at the Council Meeting was true? A war with the Nomads was coming? 

Well, if it wasn’t coming before, it was definitely now. She was sure that kidnapping a princess was a pretty clear act of war.

Pacifica hadn’t thought it was a serious threat, back then. She had barely listened to the meeting, to be completely honest. And her parents hadn’t even seemed worried that evening, during dinner. It had been like it was just a false alarm, a minor nuisance. 

And not even twenty-four hours later, she had been kidnapped. By a Demon. 

No wonder that Dipper hadn’t managed to-

 _Dipper!_ How couldn’t have she thought about him sooner!

What had happened to him? All she remembered was that Dipper had been obviously losing the fight, he had told her to run, she did and then… nothing. She had woken up here. 

She never saw what had happened to her friend.

“Am I the only prisoner? Was someone else brought here with me?” she asked, forcing herself to keep a neutral voice and expression, as she was asking just out of curiosity. It would be a mistake let her captors know how much she actually cared about in the answer.

“Uhm, not that I know of. But I don’t know much, so, maybe? I just did as I was told, brought you some food.”

Soos looked down at the tray he was holding, like if he had only just remembered why he was there in the first place. He walked to a big table on the other side of the room, near the window, where he put the tray down, before stepping back to his previous position near the door.

Pacifica eyed the food just for a moment, before returning her attention to the man. She was so hungry, she could literally hear her stomach growl, but she wasn’t so stupid to eat the food her kidnappers gave her. God knew what they could have put in it.

“You’re going to tell me everything you know,” she demanded, the authority in her voice leaving no room for arguments. The servant just nodded, looking somewhat between intimidated and apologetic.

“And you’re going to start with the Demon who took me from my home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, when I planned this chapter, Bill was supposed to be in it! But then it kept getting longer and longer and I decided to cut before. So... surprise cliffanger!
> 
> Since I have now introduced all the mayor locations and backstories, from next chapter there's gonna be more action and dialogue, I promise!  
> It also means it's going to be easier to write, and hopefully I won't let you wait too long before the next one!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Dipper didn’t know how long he stayed frozen in shock, it may have been a few minutes or only a couple of seconds, but when his mind finally started working again, he suddenly caught on to everything._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done!  
> Again, so sorry it took so long. I had some things to deal with this month.  
> I won't promise that next chapter will take less time, since I don't know, but I hope so. Thankfully summer is coming, so... more time!
> 
> A big thank to Eiris for being my beta again!

The first thing that Dipper noticed entering the room was the large window right in front of the door. 

The sunlight illuminated and warmed the place enough to make the torches unnecessary, and the boy had to squint for a couple of seconds to let his eyes get used to it. 

Since he was on the fourth floor now, he had a better view of what was beyond the garden wall, and he could see how vast and wild the forest surrounding the castle was, extending for as far as the boy could see. 

Here and there, between the trees, popped out stretches of the road leading down the mountain.

Dipper averted his thoughts from the long journey home that awaited ahead, from how dangerous and difficult and exhausting it was going to be. He could figure everything out, he just needed to proceed one step at a time. 

Just like he had sensed before coming in, the room was huge, divided in living area on the left, and sleeping area on the right. 

The former consisted of an elegant red velvet sofa, near the window, a large table with six chairs, and a fireplace in the corner. 

The table, Dipper noticed, was all set for a meal for two, with fancy silver cutlery, goblets filled with wine and a tray full of meat that looked so delicious the boy almost drooled a little bit. 

He really didn’t need another reminder of how hungry he was.

Thinking about it, finding some food supplies before leaving the castle wasn’t such a bad idea. He could use his magic for hunting and building a fire, but having something with them in case he got too tired or for other emergencies wouldn’t hurt.

He’d consider making one last stop to the kitchen once he had found Pacifica, if they still had time.

On the other side of the room was a huge bed with closed curtains, a desk, a wardrobe, and a full-length mirror with a silver frame.

Judging by its dimensions and the furnishings, that had to be the private chamber of the nobles living in the place. Or used to be, since the princess was supposed to be there, now.

She was probably still asleep, hidden behind the bed’s curtains. Dipper had only been awake for less than thirty minutes, after all, so it wasn’t so strange that she would still be under the effects of the sleeping spell. 

Surely she was fine, there was nothing to worry about. He just needed to wake her up, and then they could finally leave that place. 

Dipper repeated those words in his head as he walked towards the bed, trying to hush his stupid fears and worries. He just had to draw the curtain and see with his own eyes that Pacifica was perfectly-

Not there.

She wasn’t there. _Why_ wasn’t she there?

The servant could have lied to him, but he still had sensed someone in the room before coming in, he was sure of it. 

And yet, the chamber was empty, and the bed looked like nobody had used it in a long time.

_But if nobody’s sleeping in here, then why there is food on the table?_

“I’ll save you the time, she is not in the wardrobe, either.”

Dipper turned around so fast he heard his neck crack, but he barely even register the pain, because the Nomad was there, sitting at the dining table, and the boy was sure his heart had just stopped.

“And neither she’s under the bed,” the man continued cheerfully, apparently too busy cutting the meat in his plate to even glance at Dipper’s direction, “it’s just you and me. But I’m sure you had caught on to that by now.”

Dipper didn’t know how long he stayed frozen in shock, it may have been a few minutes or only a couple of seconds, but when his mind finally started working again, he suddenly caught on to everything.

He had walked right into a trap. The Nomad had known that he was coming, and he’d been waiting for him there all along, shielded by an invisibility spell or something of the sort. He had no idea _how_ the man did it, or why, or-

Okay, maybe he hadn’t caught on to _everything_ exactly, but he understood enough to know that he was in deep, deep trouble.

The boy knew he should do something, strike first, run, _anything_ , but something about the Nomad’s behavior was making him stall. 

He looked completely calm, unconcerned by Dipper’s presence, but at the same time there was a hint of smugness in his smirk, a glint of victory in his eyes. Like he knew, with absolute confidence, that the younger magician wasn’t a threat to him. 

And the boy, despite himself, knew that too.

He should have listened to his paranoia after all. To that voice in the back of his mind, telling him that danger was near, that it was going to end badly, that it had all been _too easy, too good to be true._

That same voice was screaming now, repeating _“I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die,”_ on a loop. And it was making it really hard for Dipper not to fall into panic.

Except…

Except that the Nomad had had thousands of chances to kill him, and he didn’t. So what sense would it make to kill him now?

No. Unless the other man was simply insane – _and you shouldn’t rule out that possibility_ -, there had to be a reason why he was still alive. 

There had to be something the Nomad wanted from him.

“Well, don’t just stand here,” the blond spoke again, snapping Dipper out of his thoughts, “Come have a seat! The food is getting cold.”

The man’s tone was nothing but pleasant, still the young mage had the feeling those words weren’t meant to be taken as a suggestion.

Dipper took a deep breath, trying to clear his head from the haze of terror and shock that was keeping him paralyzed. 

It was true, he couldn’t just keep standing there, if he wanted to get out of that situation alive he needed to get a hold of himself and _think_. 

He needed to go over his options, and as far as he could tell, he only really had three.

One, he could fight the Nomad, but he had already asserted why that was a bad idea. 

Two, he could make a run for it. Sprint through the door and escape before the blond even had the chance to do whatever he was planning on doing. He was fast, and he knew how to use his powers to hide and mislead his chaser. 

The problem was, said chaser had magic too. Freakishly powerful magic, from what he had seen, not to mention that he surely knew the territory better than Dipper did. The chances of outrunning him for long weren’t very high. 

Also, the boy didn’t know where Pacifica was yet. He was still certain that the princess had been the Nomad’s prime target, so she _had_ to be there, somewhere. And no matter what, he wasn’t leaving that place without her.

This left him with his third option, which was buying himself enough time to come out with a better plan by indulging the Nomad and sitting at the table with him, listening to what he had to say. 

Needless to say, Dipper wasn’t enthusiastic about this option. ‘Terrified’ was a better word to describe how he was feeling. 

At the same time, however, the young magician knew this was his best chance to finally find out what was going on. The Nomad obviously didn’t see him as a threat, and Dipper could use that to his advantage, to make revealing what he was plotting, so that he could find a way to stop him. 

And again, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice.

Slowly, without taking his eyes away from the other, the boy walked to the table and sat down at the opposite end from him, careful to keep his hands close to his body and not to put them on the armrests, in case the blond attempted to tie him up. 

The Nomad, however, didn’t even spare him a glance, filling his plate with more meat and acting like he wasn’t there at all.

Dipper did nothing to break the silence, unsure on how to react to the other’s behavior. 

As much as he racked his brain, he couldn’t figure out what kind of game the Nomad was playing. If he really wasn’t going to kill him, if he wanted something from him, then why was he stalling? Hell, what sense did it make lock him up in the cellar in the first place, if he had been waiting for him on the fourth floor to begin with? 

Dipper took a closer look at his kidnapper, trying to decipher his expression, to pick up any clue that could reveal what his intentions were.

The man was dressed in black pants and shirt and a golden vest, all in what looked to be very refined and expensive fabric. The shirt’s sleeves were rolled up right below his elbows, and the beginning of tattoos could be seen on both his forearms, evolving in forms and writings Dipper couldn’t recognize.

He had come across words in the Nomad alphabet studying his great uncle’s books, and they looked nothing like the symbols on the man’s skin.

“You must be starving,” the blond spoke suddenly, and Dipper, tense as he was, couldn’t help but flinch, “You’ve been asleep for a more than a day, after all. Here, serve yourself.”

The Nomad waved his hand, and the tray of meat lifted from the table and moved towards the young magician, landing right in front of him.

 _He didn’t use a spell_ , the boy realized, his eyes widening in surprise. _How the hell can he do that?_

He’d never seen anyone practice magic without an incantation before. With the exception of the most instinctive, basic forms of magic, like energy spheres, all magicians needed to channel their power through words in the First Language.

That’s what Grunkle Ford had always said. 

Despite his curiosity, Dipper pushed the question on the back of his mind, with all the hundreds of other things that didn’t make sense about the golden haired man and that whole situation in general. He had more pressing matters to worry about, at the moment. 

He really was starving, especially now that he was so close to the meat that its smell was overwhelming him, so delicious he was having troubles not drooling all over the table. 

But he wasn’t so hungry to just trust eating whatever the other man tried to feed him.

The Nomad must have caught the way he eyed suspiciously at the tray, because a large, amused smile creased his face. “Please, feel free to check it for poison. I’ll take no offense.” 

Dipper frowned, staring at the man with both confusion and disbelief. “Why?” he asked, and not even he was sure of what exactly did he want to know. Why was the other insisting for him to eat? Why were they sitting at that table? Why had he kidnapped him in the first place?

The Nomad must have caught the first meaning, however, because he shrugged, his smile never faltering, and answered, “I don’t like talking with an empty stomach. Also, I can’t have my guest starving to death now, can I?”

The boy almost snorted hearing the word ‘guest’, but he managed to hold himself back. 

“Will you tell me what you did with the princess?” he asked instead, trying to make the question sound like a request, and not like a plea.

The man’s smile, somehow, got even wider. “Of course. We’ll discuss everything, _after_ the meal is over.”

Dipper had the ever growling feeling that the other was doing all this just to mock him, or maybe to make him nervous, or both, and he was very tempted to demand him to end the farce and get to the point already.

However, he reminded himself, he had decided to play along with the situation, and if indulging in the Nomad’s game, whatever that was, could help prompt him to share more information later, Dipper might as well eat. 

Also, he was really, _really_ hungry.

So, the boy raised his hand over the tray and recited a few spells he had been taught to detect traces of poisons or drugs, and for good measure he inspected the plate and the cutlery, too. 

He didn’t bother checking the wine, since he had no intention of drinking it. If he got thirsty, he could always summon water on his own, and he’d rather keep his mind lucid, anyways.

Once he was sure the food was safe, Dipper filled his plate and started eating, trying not to gobble too fast despise how unbelievably delicious the meat was.

He never took his eyes away from the Nomad for more than a couple of seconds, but the man had returned his attention to his own plate, once again ignoring his presence completely.

From the moment he had woken up in that place, Dipper had imagined maybe a hundred of different outcomes for his situation, from the most optimistic to right down catastrophic, but that he would end up having lunch with his kidnapper had never even crossed his mind.

It was such a paradoxical scenario, he had no idea how he was supposed to react.

Despite his best efforts, the boy still cleared his plate faster than the other man, and he had to wait for infinitely long minutes before, finally, the Nomad rested the cutlery on the table and leaned back on his chair, crossing his hands over his chest in a relaxed posture. 

“So,” he spoke, tilting his head slightly to one side, “I’m guessing you must have a few questions about what is going on.”

“That would be an understatement, yes” Dipper answered cautiously, but he couldn’t help the hint of sarcasm that slipped into his voice,. “But for now, I just want to know where Pacifica Northwest is.”

The Nomad remained quiet for a few seconds, looking intently at the younger magician with both amusement and interest. It almost seemed like he was trying to figure Dipper out as much as it was the other way around.

“Why are you so sure that I have her with me?” 

The boy frowned, taken aback by the question. There were many reasons why, actually, but he decided not to share his train of thoughts with the other, yet. “There was a man, in the garden, he told me the princess was here. In this room.”

“Yes, and he also told you that _I_ wasn’t here, didn’t he?” the Nomad replied, his voice soft but tainted with derision, “My slave just said exactly what I instructed him to say.”

“Your _slave_?”

The Nomad grinned, his eyes literally glinting with delight, but he didn’t elaborate on the matter. Instead, he leaned forward, putting one elbow on the table and resting his chin on the palm of his hand. 

“You must be really devoted to this princess of yours. I mean, here you are, even though you had both the means and the time to escape. You’ve walked right past the gates without even glancing at them twice.”

The tone of his voice was casual, but Dipper had the dreadful feeling there was nothing casual about the statement at all. He swallowed, and tried not to sound too nervous when he asked, “How can you know what I did or didn’t do?”

“Because I’ve been watching you, of course! _Ostende_.” The Nomad waved his hand, and the air in front of him trembled for a few moments, before being filled with floating images, clear as if reflected through a mirror. The boy felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw himself in them, tearing down the cellar wall, then walking through the kitchen, the garden, talking with the servant, and standing in the main hall of the castle.  
“This makes me wonder,” the blond continued, as the images faded into nothing, “How far would you be willing to go. Would you make a Deal with me, to know where the Northwest girl is?”

At those words, Dipper’s eyes widened in panic.

Amongst the many powers Demons had, the one that they were most known for –and probably the one that made them the most dangerous- was their abilities of sealing unbreakable Deals with humans. 

Demons existed in a different astral plane, so, unless they managed to possess, either temporally or permanently, a human body, making a Deal was the only way they had to interact with the physical world. Thanks to their powers, they could grant a person almost everything they wished for, in exchange for sacrifices, favors or servitude.

The problem was, Demons tended to cheat. Even if they couldn’t technically break their word, they would take advantage of the smallest loopholes, of every sentence or word that could be interpreted in more than one way.

It had been one of the first lessons his great uncles had taught him and Mabel, a lesson they have repeated hundreds of times during the years: never, under any circumstances, make a Deal with a Demon. 

_‘The will appeal to your deepest desires, to you fears, to your ambitions,’_ Grunkle Ford had told them one time, _‘But they will lie to you. They will trick you. Before you even know it, they will have stolen your soul and eaten it for breakfast.’_

Dipper used to think that last part was just an exaggeration, a scary tale meant to warn the kids, until he found that that Demons could, in fact, feed on human souls.

And since he really didn’t want to lose his soul, or be tricked into slavery, or something equally horrible, the boy had honestly promised that he would never make a Deal. And not even once he had thought he would consider going back on that promise.

Until now, that was.

_So, that’s what he wants from me…_

In a way, this could explain everything. Why he had been spared and kidnapped. Why there had been nobody guarding the gates, testing if he would choose saving the princess over an easy escape. Why was the other talking to him instead of forcefully taking whatever he wanted. 

A Deal couldn’t be forced on a human, it had to be made willingly and with awareness. It could be coerced, though. And to keep Pacifica safe, Dipper may not have any other choice.

Except that there was one little thing that didn’t add up.

“You’re not a Demon.”

The blond raised an eyebrow, but beside that his expression didn’t change. “Am I not?”

The boy frowned, a shadow of doubt insinuating into his mind. Was he really so certain the other was human, after all?

“Your eyes,” he said, cautiously, searching his kidnapper’s face for any reaction to his words, “Demons have yellow eyes. Yours are… normal.” 

And yet, the golden haired man was stronger than anyone Dipper had ever met, stronger than it should be possible, for just a simple magician. And, he realized, the only way he could have brought Dipper from the capital to the Lattermost Dorsal in only one day, was if he had teleported. A power only Demons had. 

Then again, as far as he knew, Demons were not supposed to need spells, since all magic was instinctual to them, but he had seen the Nomad use them multiple times.

Except that one time that he didn’t.

“So you’re not human, either…” Dipper didn’t realized he had spoken that last thought out loud until he saw the blond smile, looking extremely pleased for some reason.

“What am I, then?”

Dipper had the feeling that if he could answer that one question, then everything else would start making sense. Like if it was the last, but crucial piece of a puzzle of which he already had all the other parts.

But he didn’t know, and he had no idea of where to find that last piece. 

He was pretty sure the other wasn’t going to tell him, and even if he could consult his great uncle’s books, he didn’t remember ever reading anything about a human with Demon’s powers, or-

And suddenly, it struck him like a lightning. 

Because he _had_ read something about it. “You are a Shaman.”

There was a flash in the Nomad’s eyes, and Dipper couldn’t say if he looked surprised or impressed, but it was clear enough that his guess had been the right one. 

To be fair, it wasn’t that shocking that he hadn’t thought about it sooner. It was a piece of information he had stumbled upon years ago, while reading a text his Grunkle Ford had found in an abandoned temple hidden under Devil’s Peak, about a practice that, at least until that moment, it was believed nobody had exercised for at least two centuries.

He didn’t remember all the details, or maybe the book hadn’t been detailed in the first place, but according to what he had read, a Shaman was a man who had somehow bonded their soul to a Demon, allowing them to use demonic powers even if they weren’t possessed, in exchange for literally _belonging_ to the Demon they were tied to.

Even back in the day they had been extremely rare, because despite the fact that the nomads venerated the creatures, very few were willing to share such a close connection with one of them. And Demons themselves preferred to just get rid of the human’s soul and take possession of their body permanently.

Dipper didn’t even want to imagine what kind of person could actually, _willingly_ bind themselves to such monsters. His kidnapper had to be either insane or incredibly depraved. Or most probably both things.

Any trace of surprise had disappeared from the man’s face now, once again replaced by a large, unsettling smile. “ _Shaman_ is such an obsolete term. You can call me Bill. Bill Cipher.”

_That doesn’t sound like a Nomad name…_

The boy ignored that last thought, deciding that the man’s name was the least of his problems. He needed to figure out how he could use the new discovery to his advantage.

As he had expected, a lot of things had fallen into place now that he understood the origins of the other’s powers. Anyhow, Dipper was having a hard time finding the bright side of the revelation.

If the other really was a Shaman, then it meant that he was dealing with both a magician with demonic powers _and_ a Demon, which he hadn’t met yet. And the realization that the Nomad wasn’t the biggest threat he would have to face almost sent him into another fit of panic.

Thinking about Demons, however, Dipper suddenly remembered another thing he had seen in his uncle’s books. 

“The tapestry in the Hall, the one with the triangle with one eye. That’s your Demon’s symbol, isn’t it?”

The Nomad, Bill Cipher, cocked his head, a glint of satisfaction shining behind in his eyes. “That is Ruya’s true form, yes.” 

_Ruya… I think I’ve heard the name before._

“I have to say, I’m impressed. You made some pretty good guesses there. Do you mind if I try, now?”

The boy wasn’t sure what the other meant with that, but before he could ask, the man continued without really caring if he minded or not. 

“I can sense a great power in you, and you’re also very skilled. You know a lot about Demons and Nomad customs. You’re _morbidly_ determined to protect the Northwest princess. And if that wasn’t enough, you’re wearing a pine tree pendant.”

Dipper’s hand sprinted to the locket around his neck, which he had completely forgotten he was even wearing. He felt a lump in his throat as his mind run to Mabel, to the last time they had seen each other. He couldn’t believe that had only been the morning before, the memory already felt so distant.

“So, my guess is” Cipher carried on, bringing the boy back to the present, “that you must be a Pines.”

At that, Dipper’s eyes widened in shock. “How do you know that name?”

“Oh, I know lots of things” the blond replied, a satisfied grin on his face, “And I put extra effort into knowing who the most interesting people around are. Stanford Pines has quite a reputation, and he’s been meddling with our business for a while now. I’ll admit, though, I had no clue he or his brother had children.”

He didn’t bother informing the man that Stan and Ford were his great uncles, and that neither of them had kids, too busy considering what he had just said.

The Nomad knew about his family. He said they had been ‘meddling with his business’, whatever that was.

Had he known who Dipper was when he had kidnapped him? Could that be the reason why he was there, to be used against Grunkle Ford?

“So, a Pines…” Cipher said again, almost contemplative, “May I have your first name, too?”

The young mage frowned. He didn’t want the other to call him by name, it would feel too weird. It would feel _wrong_. However, there wasn’t really any solid reason why he shouldn’t, and he still thought that playing along was the best thing he could be doing, at least for now. 

“It’s Dipper,” he answered, and for a moment, he thought that he saw something akin thrill shine in the man’s eyes, but it was gone so fast that he wasn’t sure he hadn’t just imagined it. 

“Dipper?” the Nomad repeated instead, his voice filled with mockery, “Geesh, your parents must hate you. Is that even a real name?”

Technically, it wasn’t. But he had been using that nickname since he was five years old, and not even his family ever used his real name anymore. 

Also, he really liked ‘Dipper’ as a name.

“Why, is _Bill Cipher_ a real name?” he retorted, maybe a little too bitterly considering his position, but he was surprised when the other actually chuckled in response. 

“Touché,” the Nomad snorted, reaching for his cup to take a long sip of wine.

This was definitely not how Dipper had expected that confrontation to go. For all he knew, in that same moment there could be a battle raging in Gravity Falls, and there he was, having small talk with his enemy over lunch.

_I think I have indulged him long enough. I need to find out what’s going on._

“So…” he started, warily, trying to think how to best pose the question, “How have you entered the Capital, anyway? The city was supposed to be protected.”

Cipher put his cup down again, a smug smirk growing on his face. “I am not supposed to tell, but between you and me… let’s just say that I had a little help from the inside.”

The boy gaped, stunned by that answer. 

Somebody in the Capital was a traitor? He almost couldn’t believe it, hatred for Demons and Nomads was pretty much universal amongst his fellow citizens. He couldn’t imagine a single person in Falls would be willing to ally themselves with any of them. 

Then again, thinking about it, it did look like the only plausible explanation. Even if it was a deeply disturbing one.

“Who helped you? How many of you got in?” he pressed on, trying not to show how nervous he was, but if the amused glint in Bill Cipher’s eyes was any indication, he hadn’t succeeded too well.

“Chill down, Pine Tree, we’re not at war just yet. It was only me, and I left as soon as I fetched you and the princess. Barely anyone got hurt.”

Dipper’s eyes widened. “So you _do_ have the princess with you.”

The Nomad chuckled again, this time sounding more mocking than amused. “Of course I have her with me. She was the whole point.”

“The point of _what_ , exactly?”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”

Dipper took a deep breath, staring at the other in silence and trying to wrap his head around all he had learned so far. 

The man had said that they weren’t at war _just yet_ , implying that it was probably planned to happen soon. This had to be connected to the news Grunkle Ford had brought from the North, about different Tribes assembling near the border. It couldn’t be just a coincidence.

Also, if there really was a traitor in the Capital, then more Demons could have tried to take the city when they still had the advantage of surprise, so the fact that they hadn’t meant there had to be some bigger scheme behind it, something related to the princess being kidnapped. 

Always assuming that Cipher had been telling him the truth about what was happening. 

The young magician couldn’t think of a reason why the Nomad would have lied to him, but still he was aware that he shouldn’t ever truly trust the other.

When finally, after what felt like a really long time, Dipper spoke again, it was with a surprisingly steady voice. “Where is she?”

The Nomad stared back at him with calculation, his eyes so intense that it was as he was looking into his very soul. It was making the boy deeply uncomfortable, but he refused to look away. It felt like he would lose some crucial battle, if he did. 

Dipper feared that Cipher would avoid the question again, or worst, that he would bring up back the Deal, so he was more than a little surprised when instead, the man answered, “She’s in the room two doors down the hall.”

The boy didn’t even have time to react, because suddenly the blond was standing next to his chair –it had happened so fast Dipper was sure he had to have used teleportation-, and he stumbled on his feet to imitate him. 

“Well, this was a nice chat, but I have some business to attend to now. We’ll continue some other time.”

With that, Bill Cipher headed to the door, and Dipper stared at him, gaping in shock. 

“What?” he shout, sounding, admittedly, quite stupid.

The Nomad turned to him and grinned. “Please, make yourself at home. You can pick any room you like, this one included. And there should be some clothes your size, somewhere. Feel free to take them, nobody is using them anyways. See you around.”

Without another word, the man walked out of the door, and when the younger magician bolted to follow him, he found out the he had vanished. 

Had he just left him there? Without even bothering locking him up again?

There was no way he didn’t expect that Dipper would try to escape. Didn’t he care? What the hell was going on? And what had been the point of that whole conversation?

_Maybe he really is just insane…_

He wasn’t convinced, though. Despite Cipher’s bizarre and theatrical behavior, there had been vivid intelligence shining behind his eyes. The boy had the feeling the Nomad had achieved exactly what he had wanted from their encounter, even if he had no idea of what that could be.

And he wasn’t so sure that he wanted to find out.

Slowly, Dipper headed towards the room where Pacifica was supposed to be. In a weird way, he wasn’t as nervous as he had been before, now that he knew what danger he was facing, and what was the worst that he could find. 

Still, he was wary. 

Once he had reached the door, he found it locked, and fixed the problem with a quick spell before nervously pushing it open.

He had half expected to find the Nomad waiting for him once again, ready to mock him and maybe even attack him, so he let out a deep sigh of relief when his eyes found Pacifica standing in front of him, wielding a bronze candlestick in front of her with a menacing expression.

“Dipper?”

The princess let her weapon fall to the ground, before literally throwing herself in the boy’s arms. Dipper held her back, maybe a little too tightly, but he didn’t care. He felt the need to make sure that she was real, that she was there. That she was alright.

“Oh my God, I was so worried! I woke up here and I didn’t know what had happened to you, all I can remember is the Demon kicking your ass. And I couldn’t get out, and-“

“It’s ok, I’m fine. I was worried too,” he patted her on the back a couple of time before letting her go, taking a step back, “But it wasn’t a Demon.”

“What?” the princess frowned, looking confused.

“It doesn’t matter now, I promise I’ll tell you everything. But right now, we need to go. I don’t know how much time we have.”

He still was suspicious about the situation, and he didn’t know if Bill Cipher would be waiting for them at the gates, or if there was some other trap on the way, but he wasn’t going to waste that opportunity. One way or another, he would find a way to get out of that place.

The young mage took Pacifica’s hand and started heading back to the door, but he was surprised when he felt the princess resisting him, holding him back.

“Dipper wait! I don’t think we can escape from here,” she said, a concerned look on her face.

The boy frowned at her, and he tightened the hold on her hand without even noticing it. “What are you talking about?” 

“I- Okay, there are some things that I need to tell you, too.”

 

***

 

Mabel Pines stood in the Council Room, fidgeting on the spot with impatience as she watched the counselors take their sit around the table. 

She bit down her thumb’s nail absentmindedly, and looked down at it in surprise when she felt the metallic taste of blood on her tongue.

She had never bitten her nails before. She had always took great care of them, unlike Dipper, who devoured them in stress whenever he got obsessed over trying out some new spell.

The girl’s heart clenched painfully as she thought about her brother.

More than thirty hours had passed from the moment Dipper had been kidnapped by a Demon, along with Mabel’s best friend, the princess. 

The Royal Guards had been patrolling the countryside around the capital ever since. Now, the Captain was about to report to the Council and the King on what they had found.

The girl already knew what the answer was going to be. It was written all over Captain Durland’s face.

The room was fuller and noisier than it had ever been, since almost every noble residing in Gravity Falls had come to listen to what was going to be decided during the meeting. 

Not even one of them, Mabel noticed, had brought their Nomad slave along.

When the King and Queen finally entered and took place on their thrones, silence fell in the chamber, broken only every now and then by some coughs and hushed whispers. 

“Your Majesty,” Durland started after taking a deep bow, “my men had searched every corner of the city and its periphery. We found no trace of the princess, nor the Demon who had taken her.”

More whispers filled the room.

“It had to be expected,” Grunkle Ford sighed from his sit, and everyone’s attention turned on the magician. “If the witnesses of the attacks are right, and we’re really dealing with a Demon, then he could have brought her to the other side of the world, by now.”

The old man sounded more tired and afflicted than he had ever been. Mabel could relate to that.

She had spent the day before, from the moment the news of what had happened reached the castle, searching with her two great uncles for any other Demon or Nomad that may have entered the Capital, and trying to figure out how it was possible that one got in in the first place.

When the night had come, and Grunkle Stan had forced her to go to sleep, the girl had spent hours upon hours rolling in her bed, crying and being devoured by worry.

It was horrible that Pacifica had been taken, but at least, with her being the princess and everything, it made sense thinking that her kidnapper would want her alive. He would have killed her on the spot, otherwise.

But Dipper… 

Why would a Demon want Dipper? As much as Mabel had turned her head over it, she couldn’t imagine any reason that didn’t involve a sacrifice or some horrible death.

And those thoughts were driving her insane.

She wasn’t the only one looking worried in the Council Room. King Preston was sitting, impossibly, more rigidly than ever, frowning so intensely the girl though his face would get stuck like that forever. 

“What can you tell me about this… _monster_ who had taken my daughter, magician?” He demanded, and Grunkle Ford stood up, taking a deep breath before answering.

“The flaming symbol that had been left in the Square, it belongs to a Demon named Ruya. I have encountered It before, more than thirty years ago, before I started serving Your Grace’s family. It was wearing a different vessel back then, but I have little to no doubt that we are dealing with the same creature.

“Ruya is a lover of chaos, insanity and destruction, but It struck me also as incredibly intelligent and dangerous. It’s highly probable that It is behind the recent, suspicious behavior of the Nomad Tribes.”

The King nodded, looking extremely troubled, but somehow still composed. “And how had this Demon entered my city, anyways? You had assured me that your magic was infallible.”

“With all due respect, Your Majesty,” Grunkle Stan intervened, “our sigils didn’t fail. But we did find out that one of them is missing. Taken, by someone inside the town. Someone who knew how the magic worked, and how to compromise it.”

Once again, whispers echoed in the room, filled with panic and shock. Mabel could clearly hear the word ‘traitor’ being repeated over and over by the presents. 

“This shouldn’t have happened!” A voice rung out above the others, and everyone turned their head towards Lord Biker, who had stood up from his chair. “If we had destroyed our enemies years ago, as I’ve been suggesting all along, none of this would have happened. Now, those abominations had managed to slip one of their spies into our city. It has to be one of the slaves, for sure. Maybe even more than one. If we hadn’t-“

“Enough!” 

Everyone in the room startled at the sound of Priscilla Northwest’s voice. Lord Biker, visibly paler, slowly sat back down.

“This is not the time to speak of who had said what and when. My daughter, _your princess_ , had been kidnapped. This is all that we need to discuss right now.”

In a tragic irony, Mabel didn’t remember ever seeing Queen Priscilla so invested in her daughter’s well being before. 

_It’s sad, how sometimes people don’t realize how much they care about someone until they have lost them._

Next to her, King Preston nodded with severity. “My wife is right. It is useless now to muse on what should and shouldn’t have been done. We need to think about the safety of the princess, and also about the safety of the Kingdom.”

With that, Preston Northwest rose to his feet, and all whispers ceased immediately.

“With this grave, unforgivable gesture, the brutes of the North had made their intentions very clear. And the great Kingdom of Falls will answer accordingly.”

The silence in the room was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. Mabel’s breath shook, knowing exactly where the King was going with this. 

Everyone knew. They had been expecting it from the moment the princess had been taken. 

“Stanford Pines,” the King commanded solemnly, “send a message to the Coven of Witchcraft, tell them to start recruiting every single magician they can find, and send them to the Capital at once. 

“Then, you will return to the Nomad’s territory. Find out what the Tribes are planning, and how many men we’re dealing with exactly. Lord Gleeful rules on one of the regions closer to the border, go to him and ask that he lend you men to escort you on your mission. Your brother will stay here, reinforce the barrier around the city, and make sure that next time, it won’t be compromised.”

Neither magician objected to the King’s order. 

“General Blubs,” Preston continued, addressing one of the councilors at the table, “Send your men to every corner of the Kingdom, make sure every Noble Family of Falls to start send their men to join the Royal Army.

We are going to war.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've made a tumblr account if anyone wants to ask me questions or follow the updates. You find me at [chronicles-of-falls.tumblr.com](http://chronicles-of-falls.tumblr.com/)


End file.
